Staff Contributor
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge recently found a municipal insurer responsible for a share of a $14.9 million settlement with a man wrongly incarcerated for 36 years.
MIIA Property & Casualty Group, Inc. was ordered to pay the town of Braintree 40.62%, or $6,052,380, of the $14.9 million settlement in a law enforcement liability case.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Peter B. Krupp in Boston found that MIIA was liable under the law enforcement liability policy but not the general liability coverage.
For 36 years, Fredrick Weichel was incarcerated for a 1980 murder in Braintree that he did not commit. After his release, Weichel sued the town and some of its employees. After settling those suits for $14.9 million, the town sued MIIA for refusing to indemnify it for part of the settlement.
Weichel’s 1981 conviction was overturned in 2017 after it was learned that the Braintree police department had a report and evidence identifying another man as the murderer but the police never informed defense counsel, state police or the district attorney of that report. It was only after Weichel’s attorney made public records requests in 2010 and 2013 that the report was released.
Here is an AI Summary:
Background of the Case
• The Wrongful Conviction: Frederick Weichel served 36 years of a life sentence for a May 1980 murder in Braintree before his conviction was overturned. The exoneration followed the discovery that Braintree police withheld an exculpatory report pointing to another suspect.
• The Settlement: Weichel subsequently sued the town, leading to a $14.9 million settlement agreement.
The Insurance Dispute & Key Rulings
When MIIA refused to indemnify the town, Braintree filed suit, leading to Judge Krupp’s breakdown of coverage obligations:
• Time-on-the-Risk Allocation: MIIA covered Braintree from 2002 to 2017. The court endorsed allocating the payout over this 15-year stretch.
• Continuous Occurrence: The judge rejected MIIA’s argument that the injury didn’t happen on their watch, ruling that wrongful imprisonment is a continuous occurrence supported by medical evidence of ongoing harm during MIIA’s tenure.
• Post-Conviction Offenses & Exclusions: The ruling also held the town accountable for post-conviction failures regarding public records in 2010 and 2013, while dismissing MIIA’s attempt to use prior-knowledge exclusions.
Chapter 93A Claims and Further Information
The court dismissed Braintree’s claims under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A, determining that MIIA’s refusal to pay stemmed from a legitimate, litigable contract dispute rather than bad faith.
