Why NJ won't let Paterson settle with 2 who served 24 years before tossed conviction

Joe Malinconico
·3 min read

PATERSON — State fiscal monitors have impeded the city's efforts to settle a lawsuit filed by two men who spent 24 years in prison before their murder convictions were overturned by a judge, says a lawyer representing Paterson.

Eric Kelley and Ralph Lee Jr. received $1 million each from the state Attorney General’s Office in 2019 in a separate lawsuit targeting the state’s role in their wrongful convictions.

The outcome of the men’s separate lawsuit against the city could have a major impact on Paterson’s finances.

Legal papers say Kelley and Lee are seeking as much as $48 million from the city. They have accused Paterson police officers of coercing their confessions, fabricating evidence against them, and hiding information that would have shown they had not committed the 1993 fatal stabbing of a college student working at his family’s video store.

Eric Kelley, one of two men who have been behind bars for 24 years for the murder of Tito Merino, a Paterson video store clerk, with his attorney Vanessa Potkin, of the Innocence Project, for a bail reduction hearing.
Eric Kelley, one of two men who have been behind bars for 24 years for the murder of Tito Merino, a Paterson video store clerk, with his attorney Vanessa Potkin, of the Innocence Project, for a bail reduction hearing.

Their convictions were dismissed in 2017 based on DNA evidence from the homicide scene that didn’t match either of them.

Kelley and Lee filed their federal lawsuit against the city in 2019. Court records do not reveal how much of a settlement payment the two sides are discussing.

But Paterson’s ability to settle lawsuits by making payments to people suing the city hinges on getting approval from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

That’s because the state agency monitors Paterson’s finances as one of the conditions for its getting special aid from the department under a program designed to help financially struggling municipalities balance their budgets. One of the monitors' tasks is making sure the city doesn't make excessive legal payouts.

The state’s fiscal monitors have gotten in the way of settlement talks between Paterson and the two wrongfully convicted men, said Victor Afanador, a private lawyer who represents the city in many lawsuits, in a letter he flied with the federal court on April 12.

Cleaning the windows where he works as a janitor is Ralph Lee Jr. who was exonerated after spending 24 years in prison for being involved in a Paterson murder.
Cleaning the windows where he works as a janitor is Ralph Lee Jr. who was exonerated after spending 24 years in prison for being involved in a Paterson murder.

“At this time, the city wishes to express to the court its interest in settling this matter by way of a conference,” Afanador wrote to United States District Judge William J. Martini.

“However, despite the efforts made by the city’s executive branch and law department, the monitoring body for the State of New Jersey has not expressed much interest in resolution thus far,” Afanador continued.

“Notwithstanding their current position, the city continues to implore the state to alter its position and entertain further discussions," he wrote. "The city unfortunately is unable to move forward in good faith without the state’s consent.”

In a March 22 letter to the judge, Afanador said the state needed “additional documentation” as part of its authority regarding a possible settlement.

The lawyer representing Kelley and Lee could not be reached for comment. Mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration and the Community Affairs Department declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

Paterson Press asked the Attorney General’s Office if it consulted with the department on the possible lawsuit settlement. The office said it “would not confirm or discuss consultations with a client.”

Paterson taxpayers could be on the hook

The financial ramifications of Kelley and Lee’s lawsuit are bigger for Paterson than other lawsuits involving incidents that happened more recently. Paterson currently pays up to $500,000 of the cost of lawsuit settlements and has an “excess insurance” policy that covers anything above that amount.

But Paterson did not have an excess policy in the 1990s, when the Kelley and Lee case took place. As a result, city taxpayers would be on the hook for the entire cost of whatever they get through either a settlement or a trial verdict.

That’s one of the reasons the city is looking to settle the case, officials said. A settlement would avoid the risk of having a jury award an even higher figure to two men who spent 24 years in prison on a wrongful conviction, officials said.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Why Paterson can't settle with 2 whose murder verdicts were overturned