An ex-producer for Wu-Tang Clan filed Thursday a federal lawsuit against New York City Police Department, prosecutors in Manhattan, alleging false arrests and negligence stemming out of a sex attack accusation that kept him locked up for four years. He was eventually found not guilty.
Derrick Harris, 52 years old, was a music producer who lived in a Harlem brownstone worth $1 million. He had previously worked with artists like Alicia Keys or Busta Rhymes. An acquaintance then accused Harris of assaulting him on Sept. 12, 2011. According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
Plaintiffs in the suit are the City of New York, NYPD, multiple officers, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and correction officers within the city.
Officials from New York City declined to comment on the request. The NYPD and the Manhattan DA’s Office declined to comment. Vance was unable to be reached.
This lawsuit alleges that Harris was injured in an excessive force arrest on the day he was charged with sex assault.
According to the lawsuit, a police officer used false evidence that led to his arrest and long detention. Even though Harris was not convicted of sex assault, the prosecution refused to drop the case. The suit claims Harris was also regularly assaulted while in Rikers Island jail and at a second detention facility.
The suit also states that Harris was falsely accused by police of attacking another woman in a nearby park, on the same day as an acquaintance had accused him of sex attack.
“At every crossroads, when the prosecution, New York City, had an opportunity for righting this wrong, they continued down the wrong track. Ellie Silverman, Harris’ attorney, stated Thursday that they chose to make mistakes every step of the process.
Craig Phemister, another Harris attorney, stated that Harris was his own lawyer when he represented himself in 2015.
Phemister stated that he was a music producer who had won numerous awards and was now a failure. To get an arrest warrant, the NYPD created evidence against him. He was able to win the trial but had to wait for four more years before they released him. He had suffered a lot over those four years.
The lawsuit states that Harris was not found guilty of the most serious charge, sex assault, in August 2015. However, jurors were still unable to convict him on other charges.
According to the New York Times, the judge in this case declared a mistrial for the other charges, including attempted rape and sex abuse.
According to the lawsuit, Harris’ semen wasn’t found on the clothes of the accuser. According to the suit, a doctor said that there was no saliva or blood found.
The lawsuit claims that a NYPD officer issued a search warrant that falsely stated that “blood and semen were found” in the house. According to the suit, the same officer falsified evidence that Harris was the attacker in the park incident. The lawsuit claims that a second officer also testified that Harris never told her.
Harris was released on $500,000 bail following the partial verdict. He was still in jail until November 2015 according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Harris was repeatedly injured in jail by correction officers or when they failed to protect him.
Harris was allegedly left alone in a toilet with a violent inmate while he was being held at Hudson Correctional Facility.
According to the suit, Harris was attacked by the inmate who, due to his violence tendencies, had to be escorted out of the facility.
“The dangerous inmate lunged towards Mr. Harris. The lawsuit claims that Mr. Harris was beaten and had two (2) broken teeth.
In 2020, Harris was freed from all charges. The lawsuit states that Harris has spent approximately $150,000 on legal fees over the years.
He wants a jury trial.
