In the Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District, Derrick Martin, the plaintiff-appellant, filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago, the defendant-appellee. The case ID is 1-22-0747 and was heard on March 12, 2024. The case revolves around Martin's allegations of malicious prosecution by the City of Chicago.
A decade prior to this lawsuit, Martin was arrested on suspicion of selling drugs from his mother's home in Chicago. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison but later had his conviction overturned due to a fourth-amendment violation involving a warrantless search by the police. His lawyers argued that this constituted an infringement on his rights.
Martin then sued the officers involved and the City of Chicago for malicious prosecution. However, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the City. On appeal, Martin claimed that there were two key evidentiary errors made during his trial: failing to conduct an evidentiary balancing test before allowing the City to confront him with five prior drug arrests and allowing the City to inform the jury about this Court’s previous decision indicating that the police had probable cause to suspect Martin of criminal conduct at the time of the search.
The plaintiff is seeking judgment for these alleged errors and damages resulting from what he perceives as malicious prosecution by law enforcement and city officials.