Man Freed by DNA Awarded $15.5M in Ill.

[December 21, 2007]  CHICAGO (AP) -- A man who spent months in jail after being accused of sexually assaulting and drowning his 3-year-old daughter before DNA evidence cleared him was awarded, with his wife, $15.5 million Thursday.

The couple's attorney had argued in a federal lawsuit against Will County that sheriff's deputies fabricated evidence and accused detectives of arresting Kevin Fox even though they knew he didn't kill his daughter, Riley.

Hikers found Riley's body in a creek four miles from her Wilmington home on June 6, 2004; the case remains unsolved.

Kevin Fox and his wife, Melissa, wiped tears from their eyes and hugged their attorney after the verdict was read in a federal courtroom in downtown Chicago.

"Everybody should be happy about this verdict," the couple's attorney Kathleen Zellner said. "They tried to ruin these people's lives and they didn't succeed."

The couple sued four sheriff's detectives, the estate of a fifth detective and the county.

An appeal is planned, said Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow in a written statement.

Glasgow, who was not the prosecutor at the time of Fox's interrogation, said the jury was not allowed to hear "critical evidence" on the reasons for Fox's arrest. He said the county had made motions for a mistrial.

"It has always been our contention that the sheriff's deputies acted properly during the interview of Kevin Fox and that they had probable cause to arrest him," Glasgow said.

The lawsuit alleged detectives subjected Kevin Fox to threats, lies and promises of a deal during a 14 1/2-hour overnight interrogation in which he implicated himself in the killing.

Kevin Fox testified that he lost hope during the interrogation and gave a false story when promised leniency. Detectives denied the couple's claims and insisted Kevin Fox's statements were made voluntarily.

Fox spent eight months in custody charged with first-degree murder and criminal sexual assault. Charges were dropped, and he was released in June 2005 after tests on DNA from a rape kit showed no link to him.

In the civil case, jurors agreed Will County authorities violated Kevin Fox's civil rights. But they sided with defendants in rejecting claims of a conspiracy.

The jury, which began deliberating Tuesday morning, awarded $9.3 million to Kevin Fox and $6.2 million to Melissa Fox. Zellner had asked the jury for a total of $44 million.

Kevin Fox, 30, told reporters the wait for the jury's verdict was nerve-racking.

"It's over now, and it feels great," he said. "They found that I wasn't in the wrong, that I did everything right."

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL TARM]

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