Tevya Grace Urquhart

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Charge:	Larceny
Sentence:	"5 months, 3 years probation & restitution"
Years Imprisoned:	0.4
Year Crime:	2002
Year Convicted:	2002
Year Cleared:	2004
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Michigan
County or Region of Crime:	Wayne
City of Crime:	Detroit
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Tevya Grace Urquhart was co-defendant of Kimberly Sykes. Sykes and Urquhart were wrongly convicted on October 7, 2002 of "Larceny by Conversion" and "False Report of a Felony" related to the robbery of a Sprint mobile phone store of about $27,000 on Mary 7, 2002 in Detroit, Michigan. Sykes, Tevya Urquhart and a third employee of the store, Kimberly Holmes, reported to the police that two armed men came into the store just before it was to open at 8 am, and forced them to go to the room where the safe. Urquhart was three months pregnant and the only one who knew the safe's combination. They threatened to shoot her if she didn't open the safe, which she did and after taking out a bag of money she slid it across the floor to one of the robbers. The prosecution's case against Sykes, Urquhart and Holmes was the theft of the money was an inside job made to look like a robbery with the two males, and they falsely reported it was a crime to cover their tracks. Sykes and Urquhart insisted on their innocence and refused a plea bargain. During their trial the prosecution relied heavily on evidence that Holmes was a gambling addict, and during the three days after the robbery she gambled at the MotorCity Casino an amount approximately equal to the $27,000 stolen during the robbery. After their convictions by a jury, Sykes was sentenced to three months in jail on each count, three years of probation, and ordered to pay restitution. Urquhart was sentenced to five months in jail on each count, three years of probation, and ordered to pay restitution. The two women were imprisoned and served their sentences. Holmes pled guilty to being an accomplice to the robbery. On May 4, 2004 the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Sykes and Urquhart on the basis there was insufficient evidence of their guilt, and they were convicted on the basis of "speculation" and "impermissibly layered inferences." (People v. Sykes, No. 245079, (Mich.Ct. App. May 4, 2004) and People v. Urquhart, No. 246001, (Mich.Ct.App. May 4, 2004) On March 8, 2005 Sykes filed a lawsuit in state court alleging false arrest and imprisonment and violations of her constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment by the City of Detroit and six Detroit police officers. Her lawsuit was removed to federal court. On September 29, 2005 Urquhart filed a filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against same defendants as Sykes was suing. The lawsuits by Sykes and Urquhart were consolidated on June 19, 2006, since they were based on the same facts and alleged the same wrongdoing by the defendants. The constitutional violations they alleged included that to obtain the arrest warrant Detroit police officers lied about the store's surveillance tapes of the robbery to make it appear like Sykes and Urquhart were accomplices in the robbery. In February 2008 a U.S. District Court jury found Detroit Police Department Sgt. Derrick Anderson liable for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and the violation of Sykes and Urquhart's due-process rights. The jury also found Detroit Police Department Sgt. Carol Nichols liable for malicious prosecution. The jury awarded Sykes $1.313 million and Urquhart $1.27 million in compensatory and punitive damages. (Sykes and Urquhart were respectively awarded $1,063,000 and $1,020,000 in compensatory damages, and both were awarded $150,000 in punitive damages against Anderson and $100,00 in punitive damages against Nichols.) U.S. District Court Judge Nancy G. Edmunds denied the defendants motions to overturn the verdict, and that the award was excessive. On October 31, 2008 Judge Edmunds awarded Sykes' attorney $423,922.50 plus $9,372.20 in costs, and Urquhart's attorney $267,541.75 plus $1,524.38 in costs. The City of Detroit and the police officers appealed. On November 9, 2010 the U.S. Sixth Circit Court of Appeals affirmed the defendants were liable, however, the case was remanded to the district court for an explanation of the reasons for denying the defendant's motion challenging that the damage award was excessive. On December 20, 2010 Judge Edmunds filed her opinion explaining that the awards were reasonable, so she denied the motion challenging them as excessive. The defendants appealed. On April 12, 2011 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury's damage award as reasonable and the judge's award of attorney's fees at $250 per hour as reasonable."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On May 4, 2004 the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Sykes and Urquhart on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove their gult beyond a reasonable doubt, and they were convicted on the basis of "speculation" and "impermissible inferences.""
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:	"$1,270,000 (City of Detroit, Feb. 2008, affirmed on appeal 4-12-2011) plus $269,066.12 attorneys fees and expenses"
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	33
Age When Released:	33
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	Black
Information Source 1:	"People v. Urquhart, No. 246001, 2004 WL 950062 (Mich.Ct.App. May 4, 2004) and People v. Sykes, No. 245079, 2004 WL 950129 (Mich.Ct. App. May 4, 2004) (Reversing convictions and ordering acquittal based on insufficient evidence, because their convictions were based on "speculation" and "impermissibly layered inferences.")"
Information Location 1:
Information Source 2:	"2 get million in false prosecutions, By Naomi R. Patton, and David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press, February 26, 2008"
Information Location 2:	http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080226/NEWS01/802260401
Information Source 3:	"Bad cops cost city millions, By Diane Bukowski, The Michigan Citizen, March 2, 2008"
Information Location 3:	http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=5708&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1070&hn=michigancitizen&he=.com
Information Source 4:	"Sykes v. Anderson,Nos. 08-2088, 08-2090, 08-2118, 08-2615, 08-2617 (6th Cir., 4-12-2011) (Affirming the jury's damage award as reasonable and the judge's award of attorney's fees.)"
Information Location 4:	"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4928618179958977317&q=Kimberly+Sykes&hl=en&as_sdt=4,23,111,126,275,276,280,281,293,294,301,302,303,338,339,343,344,356,357,364,365,366,381"
Information Source 5:	"Sykes v. Anderson, 625 F. 3d 294 (6th Cir 2010) (Affirming the defendant's liability and remanding for explanation of the defendant's denial of motion challenging the damages award.)"
Information Location 5:	"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8652111743821315506&q=Kimberly+Sykes&hl=en&as_sdt=4,23,111,126,275,276,280,281,293,294,301,302,303,338,339,343,344,356,357,364,365,366,381"
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Tevya Grace Urquhart

Charge:

Larceny

Sentence:

"5 months, 3 years probation & restitution"

Years Imprisoned:

0.4

Year Crime:

2002

Year Convicted:

2002

Year Cleared:

2004

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Michigan

County or Region of Crime:

Wayne

City of Crime:

Detroit

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On May 4, 2004 the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the convictions of Sykes and Urquhart on the basis the prosecution introduced insufficient evidence to prove their gult beyond a reasonable doubt, and they were convicted on the basis of "speculation" and "impermissible inferences.""

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

"$1,270,000 (City of Detroit, Feb. 2008, affirmed on appeal 4-12-2011) plus $269,066.12 attorneys fees and expenses"

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

33

Age When Released:

33

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

Black

Information Source 1:

Information Location 1:

Information Source 2:

"2 get million in false prosecutions, By Naomi R. Patton, and David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press, February 26, 2008"

Information Location 2:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080226/NEWS01/802260401

Information Source 3:

"Bad cops cost city millions, By Diane Bukowski, The Michigan Citizen, March 2, 2008"

Information Location 3:

http://www.michigancitizen.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=5708&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1070&hn=michigancitizen&he=.com

Information Source 4:

"Sykes v. Anderson,Nos. 08-2088, 08-2090, 08-2118, 08-2615, 08-2617 (6th Cir., 4-12-2011) (Affirming the jury's damage award as reasonable and the judge's award of attorney's fees.)"

Information Location 4:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4928618179958977317&q=Kimberly+Sykes&hl=en&as_sdt=4,23,111,126,275,276,280,281,293,294,301,302,303,338,339,343,344,356,357,364,365,366,381"

Information Source 5:

"Sykes v. Anderson, 625 F. 3d 294 (6th Cir 2010) (Affirming the defendant's liability and remanding for explanation of the defendant's denial of motion challenging the damages award.)"

Information Location 5:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8652111743821315506&q=Kimberly+Sykes&hl=en&as_sdt=4,23,111,126,275,276,280,281,293,294,301,302,303,338,339,343,344,356,357,364,365,366,381"

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