Judge Manning nixes Columbia's bid to deny USC professor $200,075 for DUI arrest

COLUMBIA, SC -- Judge Casey Manning denied motions Friday morning by the city of Columbia’s legal department to overturn a $200,075 jury verdict in the case of a bungled DUI arrest by city police that resulted in an innocent man being tossed in jail.

After hearing a presentation from city lawyer Natalie Ham that a $200,075 jury award for Darris Hassell should be reduced or tossed out and the city given a new trial, Manning ruled from the bench and denied her motion.

On May 18, after a three-day trial, a Richland County jury of eight whites and four African-Americans took just 41 minutes to decide that the city should pay Hassell, 47, for being falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted.

Hassell, an African-American, had been arrested by a white officer, but race was not an issue in the case. Hassell did not resist his arrest, and the officer’s conduct was the main issue before the jury.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article154114499.html