Zellner's $37.9 Million Jury Award: Why It Matters For Steven Avery?
DOWNERS GROVE — DuPage County-based civil rights lawyer Kathleen Zellner, who is known world-wide for her efforts to undo Steven Avery’s first-degree murder conviction in the Teresa Halbach murder case made famous on Netflix through “Making A Murderer,” has just achieved another landmark legal victory.
Click Here: Mohamed Salah Jersey Sale
Zellner’s latest accomplishment happened on Friday in Missouri. She was representing Ryan Ferguson, another world-famous wrongfully convicted man. In representing Ferguson, Zellner won a record verdict in state court of $37,900,000 against the Travelers Indemnity Company for the insurance company’s failure to try to settle Ferguson’s civil rights case prior to trial, which originally resulted in an $11,004,000 civil rights verdict for Ferguson on July 11, 2017.
According to Zellner, Missouri Judge Cotton Walker presided over the recent four-day jury trial in Cole County, Missouri.
Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The verdict included $2,900,000 for direct damages and $35 million for punitive damages.
In addition to continuing her crusade on behalf of Ferguson, who regained his freedom, Zellner continues to pursue post-conviction appeals in the state of Wisconsin for Steven Avery.
Find out what's happening in Downers Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Avery, whose plight drew worldwide attention with the release of Making A Murderer in December 2015 and Making A Murderer II in October 2018, remains locked away from society inside a Wisconsin prison, this time in Fox Lake.
So far, the murder convictions for Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey remain in place back in the state of Wisconsin.
Patch: “What are the parallels between the Ryan Ferguson case in Missouri and the Steven Avery case out of Wisconsin?”
Zellner’s Response: “Both men have been wrongfully incarcerated for a substantial period of time,” Zellner replied. “Avery has been in for 19 years, Ferguson was in for 10. Neither case was a DNA case. Ferguson was released on new witness testimony. Avery has an appeal with new witness testimony.”
In her $38 million jury verdict against Travelers insurance, Zellner said that rather than bankrupting the six defendant police officers following to $11 million verdict, she opted for her client to take an assignment for their bad faith claim against the insurance company, Travelers, for failing to provide them with a defense and to indemnify them for the verdict.
Zellner’s co-counsel was Michael Berry, Wayne Jordan, and Kathryn Thomas. The jury was out for less than 75 minutes. Travelers Indemnity Company was represented by attorneys Evan Stephenson and Christopher Harper. Zellner began representing Ryan Ferguson in 2009.
She secured Ferguson’s release from prison after 10 years in 2013. In 2017, she filed a civil rights lawsuit on his behalf and won an $11,004,000 verdict. In 2018, she and Michael Berry brought the bad faith action against Travelers.
“This verdict is hugely significant for insurance companies that decline coverage to police officers on civil rights violations,” Zellner announced over the weekend. “This activity damages innocent people who are wrongfully convicted and the police officers who are denied insurance coverage when they are sued. I expect this verdict to get a lot of attention from insurance companies who offer law enforcement liability insurance.”
Patch: “Why is the $38 million judgment against Travelers Insurance so important as it pertains to Steven Avery?”
Zellner’s Response: “The 38 million judgment against Travelers is important to the Avery case because it demonstrates that the delay in exonerating an innocent person that wins a civil rights judgment is enormously expensive. Ferguson has now won $46,000,000 in judgments for his 10-year prison sentence.”
Patch: “Can you bring people up to speed with Avery’s post-conviction appeals? Where is the case now and what will be the next big legal ruling in the case and when could that happen?”
Zellner’s Response: “The status on Avery’s current appeal is that it’s pending before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. We believe we will have a ruling before the end of the year … These huge verdicts are wake-up calls for the decision makers in keeping an innocent person behind bars for years and years.”
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
