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Statement of Prosecutor Worthy on the Ansari Civil Verdict
On February 16, 2024, a jury awarded $10 million to Alexandre Ansari, of Detroit. He spent almost six years in prison for the killing of a 15-year-old girl before the criminal case was dismissed.
Mr. Ansari's criminal conviction was dismissed in Wayne County Circuit Court by Judge Thomas Hathaway in 2019. It was reviewed and handled by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office Conviction Integrity Unit, headed by Valerie Newman. The unit was established by Prosecutor Kym Worthy in 2018.
The civil case was heard in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan before Judge Stephen Murphy. The jury found that Alexandre Ansari's constitutional rights were violated by a Detroit police detective by concealing evidence in the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old girl. Attorney Wolfgang Mueller represented Mr. Ansari and the City of Detroit Law Department represented the defense.
"The wisdom of the jury and the verdict in the civil case is a complete vindication of this office, our Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU), and the assistant prosecutor who tried this case. I started our CIU in January 2018 for this very reason. The court dismissed Mr. Ansari's criminal case in 2019. We will never be afraid to face head on any injustices that we uncover," said Prosecutor Kym Worthy
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