Exonerated New Jersey Man Sues After Serving 3 Years For BB Gun

By BearingArms.com Staff

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A Middlesex County man cleared of a conviction that landed him in prison for three years over a BB gun is suing the state for damages, which could pay out upwards of $150,000.

The wrongful conviction lawsuit was filed on Dec. 14 in Middlesex County Superior Court after the state appellate court ruled the case against 30-year-old hinged on warrantless search.

NJ.com (http://bit.ly/2iahTx2) reports that Jason Patterson’s suit stems from a traffic stop in Metuchen in 2008, when the then 22-year-old who had abruptly stopped at a yellow light and ended up “a little past the intersection,” the court papers say.

Police ran Patterson’s plates and pulled him over on Dec. 1 for driving his Jeep, which had a faulty driver’s side window, with a suspended license from an unpaid municipal fine, records show.

According to court papers, Patterson told the officer about the broken window and that one of them would have to open the door. Once the officer did, he said he spotted a “few flakes” of what he thought was marijuana and a shoelace tied in a way that looked like it had been used to shoot up. Police said they saw another syringe when Patterson …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms