Seven years and "60 Minutes": A family's fight for justice

DRH&R represented the family of a man who died after a disagreement with off-duty police officers working department store security for a national chain. A regular customer at the store, the man apparently argued with store employees and security officers. Ninety minutes later, he was on life support at a local hospital, admitted as a "John Doe." His family was not notified for nearly a day even though he carried identification.

Within two days of the incident, the man was dead. His family immediately doubted that he had died of a heart attack, as initially reported by the medical examiner's office. (The cause of death was officially revised by the local medical examiner's office more than three years later to asphyxiation.)

The death, DRH&R soon discovered, was part of a series of violent incidents at the company's stores. During four years into protracted civil litigation, the department store chain and the police officers were sanctioned for their litigation tactics.

During the civil trial, one officer admitted that there had been no probable cause to arrest the man. He had not been suspected of committing a crime at the store, according to the testimony. Seven years after his death, the man's reputation and that of his family were vindicated with a significant jury verdict.

After the trial, the widow said, "No one believed us all of those years. Terrible things were said about my husband and our family. He did not deserve to die that way. Thank God for our lawyers and the people at 60 Minutes. I always hoped the truth would come out."

Read the 60 Minutes transcript