Why Paterson needs ‘insurance archaeologist’ for two $48M lawsuits

Joe Malinconico
·2 min read

PATERSON — With millions of dollars possibly at stake, Paterson needs someone called an “insurance archaeologist" to research city records that are almost three decades old.

At issue is what type of liability insurance Paterson had in the early 1990s. That’s when Ralph Lee Jr. and Eric Kelley were arrested by Paterson police and eventually convicted in a high-profile murder case.

Now Lee and Kelley are suing Paterson for $48 million each, because their convictions were dismissed in 2018 after they spent more than 24 years in prison. The federal lawsuits accuse Paterson police of fabricating evidence, withholding information from the men's lawyers that could have been used to exonerate them, and taking advantage of the men’s mental deficiencies to coerce confessions.

Lee and Kelley already have gotten $1 million apiece from the state in a separate lawsuit over their convictions. But their settlement with the state did not resolve the pending case against the city and its police officers.

Ralph Lee Jr. was exonerated after spending 24 years in prison for being involved in a Paterson murder. The Innocence Project took Lee’s case and found that the DNA sample, taken at the scene, did not belong to Lee. He was eventually freed and now works as a janitor at CarePlus Workforce Solutions.
Ralph Lee Jr. was exonerated after spending 24 years in prison for being involved in a Paterson murder. The Innocence Project took Lee’s case and found that the DNA sample, taken at the scene, did not belong to Lee. He was eventually freed and now works as a janitor at CarePlus Workforce Solutions.

As the legal battle unfolds, the two sides have agreed they ought to find out what type of liability insurance Paterson had at the time of the arrests and convictions, according to court record. The insurance coverage would help determine how much Paterson taxpayers have at risk in the lawsuit.

Lawyers for the city and the two men agreed that the sides would share the cost of hiring the insurance archeologist, according to court records.

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But several reports filed in the lawsuit say city officials have not cooperated with the research into the old records.

A March 4 letter signed by lawyers for both sides says the city failed to provide the insurance archeologist with access to municipal files and personnel. “Without access to the relevant files, the vendor cannot perform the agreed upon research,” said the letter.

A subsequent letter dated May 16 said the access problem had not yet been resolved.

City officials declined to respond to questions about the insurance archeologist, saying it involves pending litigation.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ needs ‘insurance archaeologist’ for two lawsuits