Concluding a lawsuit involving disturbing and serious police misconduct, the ACLU of Rhode Island announced the favorable settlement of a case on behalf of Woonsocket resident Mack Blackie who was twice unlawfully and falsely arrested and detained by Woonsocket police, and criminally charged and incarcerated for crimes he did not commit. The City has agreed to pay $550,000 to settle the case.
The lawsuit, filed last October in U.S. District Court against Woonsocket police officer Timothy Hammond and the City of Woonsocket, argued that a series of actions taken against Blackie violated his constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and constituted false arrest and imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The suit was filed by ACLU of RI cooperating attorneys Joshua Xavier and Chloe Davis.
In August 2022, an apartment was broken into in Woonsocket. One of the residents, William Grover, told an investigating police officer that the individual who had entered the home was known to him as “Black.” Later, officer Hammond met with Grover and asked multiple times if Mack Blackie was the perpetrator. Mr. Grover — who knew both “Black” and Blackie — explicitly stated it was not Blackie, a Liberian, and even described the differences in physical characteristics between the two men.
Officer Hammond then failed to schedule a promised photo line-up so Grover would be able to identify “Black.” Instead, Hammond falsely wrote in his witness statement that “Grover positively identified the suspect male as being Mack Blackie.” Additionally, he later falsely stated in his application for an arrest warrant that Grover told another Woonsocket police officer that Blackie broke into the apartment. Blackie was arrested soon after. Despite presenting a medical condition requiring attention, Blackie was held overnight in custody, taken to court where he collapsed, and only then medically treated, resulting in his hospitalization for several days. A few months later, he was rearrested and charged with felony breaking and entering and assault based on the August 2022 incident.
Because he was on probation at the time, Blackie was incarcerated for 18 days without bail as a probation violator. When bail was finally set, he could not afford the $100 cash required for release, resulting in his continued incarceration for an extra 13 days, until an employee of a non- profit organization where he volunteered posted the money for his bail.
In February 2023, at a pre-trial conference in the case, Grover saw Blackie in the courthouse hallway. Immediately, he realized the Woonsocket Police had arrested the wrong man, and he informed the prosecutor. The charges against Blackie were then dropped. While Hammond was later suspended for 10 days and demoted for “fail[ing] to follow standard investigative procedures,” he apparently remains on the force.
ACLU attorney Xavier said today: “While this settlement brings some measure of accountability over the unlawful actions taken by the police against Mr. Blackie, nothing will ever remove the deep distress and psychological pain he suffered and continues to suffer as a result of being arrested twice, criminally charged, incarcerated, and prosecuted for crimes he did not commit, including a felony. Mr. Blackie spent 31 days in prison —31 days of his life that he will never get back.
“This case serves as a stark reminder that our government continues to fall short of living up to the promises guaranteed by our Constitution and it is my hope that this settlement brings about a turning point in police behavior leading to the elimination of all wrongful arrests, wrongful charging, wrongful prosecutions, and wrongful convictions that far too often plague our society.”
Mr. Blackie said: “I am grateful and thankful to God for making everything successful and am happy and glad justice has been done. I am also thankful to the Rhode Island ACLU and my lawyer for making this case outcome possible and for helping and supporting me the whole time.”
For more information about this case, please click here.
