IN THE NEWS
Chicago Sun-Times - December 20, 2007
Jury awards Kevin Fox, wife $15.5 mil.
By Brian Stanley
During the 243 days he spent in jail, Kevin Fox wrote of getting “revenge on Will County.”
On Thursday, a jury gave Fox and his wife Melissa $15.5 million worth.
On June 6, 2004, 3-year-old Riley Fox disappeared from her Wilmington home. The girl’s body was found later that day in nearby Forked Creek. Fox was arrested and charged with her murder but was released after DNA on the girl’s body was shown not to be his.
Fox sued Will County and five detectives, accusing them of framing him for the crime.
After two days of deliberation, the jury of five men and five women reached a verdict around 2 p.m. Thursday, the 26th day of the trial.
Defendants Edward Hayes, Scott Swearengen and Brad Wachtl sat in the courtroom as the clerk read the nine counts against them and defendants Mike Guilfoyle, who was absent, and John Ruettiger, who died in April.
David Dobrowski and Mary Jane Pluth, who were defendants in the lawsuit until last week, sat in the front row as the verdict was read.
The jury decided the defendants violated Fox’s right to due process, falsely arrested him, maliciously prosecuted him and intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon him.
After punitive damages, Fox was awarded a total of $9.3 million. The jury also awarded Melissa Fox $5.2 million for loss of consortium due to her husband’s jailing.
Melissa Fox also received a $1 million judgment against Edward Hayes for intentional infliction of emotional distress for comments and profanities Hayes said to her during the interrogation.
“I am extremely disappointed with the civil jury verdict in this case and have directed our attorneys to immediately begin work on an appeal,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said in a press release.
“I am highly confident that the county will prevail on its appeal because the jury was not allowed to hear critical evidence bearing on probable cause. We made multiple motions for mistrial during the course of this trial because we were not allowed to present evidence that had direct bearing on the decision by our detectives to eventually arrest Mr. Fox.
“We continue to stand behind and support our detectives and the manner in which they conducted themselves throughout this investigation. It has always been our contention that the sheriff’s deputies acted properly during the interview of Kevin Fox and that they had probable cause to arrest him.”
Glasgow said the appellate process can take up to three years.
