Union County Covering Costs of PD Lieutenant’s Defense in Civil Rights Suit – TAPinto.net
ELIZABETH, NJ — The Union County Freeholder Board this week approved $20,000 to pay for a former Union County Police Department lieutenant’s representation a lawsuit in which he is accused of improperly administering a polygraph test, leading to the false conviction of a city man in 2008.
That man, Emmanuel Mervilus, was wrongly convicted of first-degree robbery and aggravated assault, then released after more than three years in prison, according to the complaint in the federal lawsuit in which Union County Police Lieutenant John Kaminskas is named.
The freeholders approved the resolution authorizing payment to the Linden-based law firm of Kologi and Simitz by a unanimous vote on Thursday. The freeholders did not discuss the payment at the meeting.
“Mervilus was held in captivity for 1,454 days as a prisoner for a crime he did not commit because the defendants violated his state and constitutional rights,” the lawsuit states.
Kaminskas “administered the polygraph exam and gave the polygraph-related testimony in Mervilus’ trial,” according to the litigation.
The complaint states that Kaminskas “gave false testimony at trial that was inappropriately and purposefully designed to convince the jurors that polygraph tests were infallible and to secure a conviction.”
“The County of Union, as well as most other forms of governments in the state of New Jersey, usually have some type of litigation that occurs, so there are always fund[s] expended on legal fees,” said Union County spokesman Sebastian D’Elia, in a statement.
“Legal representation is provided to [county] employees when there is exposure to the county or employee generally as it relates to on the job duties,” D’Elia said.
He declined to comment specifically on Kaminskas case, citing county policy “not to comment on ongoing litigation.”