Mistaken Imprisonment Attorney in New Jersey and New York

Wrongful incarceration is among the gravest injustices the legal system can inflict. Days, months, or years spent in custody for a crime you did not commit. A career disrupted or destroyed. Family relationships fractured. The psychological toll of confinement that should never have happened. Mistaken imprisonment cases arise from many causes: fabricated evidence, coerced confessions, unreliable eyewitness identifications, withheld exculpatory evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. When these wrongs send an innocent person to jail or prison, civil accountability must follow. Thai Nguyen Law handles mistaken imprisonment claims in New Jersey and New York.

How Mistaken Imprisonment Differs from False Arrest

False arrest focuses on the initial unlawful seizure of a person without probable cause. Mistaken imprisonment encompasses a broader and more serious harm: the prolonged, wrongful confinement of a person through a flawed criminal justice process. A person may be lawfully arrested with probable cause and still be wrongfully imprisoned if prosecutors suppressed evidence of innocence, if witnesses fabricated testimony, if law enforcement planted or withheld evidence, or if the system failed to identify an obvious misidentification before conviction. The legal claims differ accordingly, and the damages in mistaken imprisonment cases are typically far greater given the duration and severity of the confinement.

Civil claims arising from mistaken imprisonment may be brought under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 for constitutional violations by government actors, the New Jersey Civil Rights Act, N.J.S.A. 10:6-2, for parallel state law claims, and under specific theories including malicious prosecution for cases where charges were initiated without probable cause and ultimately terminated in favor of the accused. Brady violations, where prosecutors withheld material exculpatory evidence, can support civil claims against both the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement when that withholding was the product of deliberate conduct rather than inadvertent error. Absolute prosecutorial immunity creates significant barriers to suing prosecutors directly, making the law enforcement and Monell municipal liability claims often the most viable paths to recovery.

New Jersey has taken specific legislative steps to address wrongful conviction. The New Jersey Mistaken Imprisonment Act, N.J.S.A. 52:4C-1 et seq., provides compensation to people who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in New Jersey and subsequently exonerated. Eligible individuals can seek compensation through the state, but the Act does not preclude civil rights claims against the individuals responsible for the wrongful conviction. Both tracks — the statutory compensation mechanism and the civil rights lawsuit — may be available depending on the specific facts. Attorney Nguyen evaluates both avenues in every mistaken imprisonment case.

How Wrongful Convictions Happen: Common Causes of Mistaken Imprisonment

Eyewitness misidentification is the single leading cause of wrongful convictions nationally, contributing to the majority of DNA exonerations documented by the Innocence Project. Suggestive lineup procedures, cross-racial identification errors, and stress-impaired memory produce false identifications that juries find compelling. Coerced confessions, particularly from young people, people with intellectual disabilities, and those subjected to extended interrogation, are the second most common factor. Discredited forensic methods including bite mark analysis and hair microscopy have sent innocent people to prison in New Jersey and New York. Informant testimony given for leniency is a recognized reliability risk that innocence organizations have scrutinized extensively.

How Thai Nguyen Law Handles Mistaken Imprisonment Cases

Mistaken imprisonment civil cases are among the most complex in the civil rights field. They require a thorough review of the complete criminal case record, including trial transcripts, discovery materials, police investigation files, lab reports, and any post-conviction proceedings. We identify the specific constitutional or legal failures that contributed to the wrongful conviction, assess the viability of claims against individual officers, prosecutors where permissible, and municipalities, and build the damages case that reflects the full human cost of the wrongful imprisonment.

Our approach to mistaken imprisonment cases includes:

Comprehensive review of criminal trial records, police investigation files, lab reports, and post-conviction proceedings
Identification of specific Brady violations, fabricated evidence, improper identification procedures, and coercive interrogation tactics
Assessment of Section 1983 and NJ Civil Rights Act claims against individual officers and municipal liability under Monell
Evaluation of eligibility under the New Jersey Mistaken Imprisonment Act for statutory compensation alongside civil rights claims
Expert retention in forensic science, eyewitness identification, or interrogation methodology when the conviction rested on disputed evidence
Full damages documentation including lost income, psychological harm, reintegration costs, and the permanent consequences of the wrongful record

Wrongful Conviction and the Path to Civil Recovery in New Jersey

Before a civil suit for mistaken imprisonment can proceed on malicious prosecution grounds, the criminal case must have been terminated in the plaintiff’s favor. This termination requirement means the conviction was vacated, charges were dismissed, or the person was acquitted. A conviction that was overturned on procedural grounds rather than innocence may complicate the civil claim’s viability depending on the basis for the reversal. New Jersey’s Mistaken Imprisonment Act requires a formal exoneration, defined as a pardon based on innocence or a vacated conviction where the State declined to retry or the person was acquitted at retrial. Attorney Nguyen reviews the post-conviction record carefully to identify which civil claims are viable given the specific basis on which the wrongful imprisonment ended.

What to Expect Working With Us

01 – Free Case Review — We evaluate the criminal case record, the basis for exoneration, and the available civil claims at no cost. No fees unless we win.
02 – Record Review and Claim Identification — We obtain and review trial transcripts, police files, and post-conviction records to identify specific constitutional failures and viable defendants.
03 – Expert Retention and Damages Documentation — We retain experts as needed and build a comprehensive damages record that captures the full human and economic cost of the wrongful imprisonment.
04 – Litigation — Mistaken imprisonment cases are among the most contested in civil rights law. We are prepared to litigate through trial and, if necessary, through appeal.

Why Choose Thai Nguyen Law?

As a refugee from Vietnam now attorney in the United States, Attorney Nguyen understands at a personal level what it means to be subject to government power without adequate protection. Civil rights claims are brought disproportionately by people who have been targeted because of who they are rather than what they did. Attorney Nguyen takes these cases seriously, challenges the government’s narrative with evidence, and holds individual officials and the institutions that enable them accountable.

Thai Nguyen’s journey from immigrant to attorney in the United States — from refugee to immigrant to practicing lawyer — built a practice grounded in the belief that every person is entitled to justice, regardless of their background, resources, or how the system originally treated them. Thai Nguyen Law serves New Jersey and New York and handles civil rights cases nationwide, with services in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish.

Free consultation — Understand your rights and options before making any decisions
No fees unless we win — No upfront cost on civil rights cases we accept
Multilingual service — English, Vietnamese, and Spanish
Award-winning representation — Recognized for results in complex civil rights cases

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. An exoneration or vacated conviction is the foundation of a civil rights lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment. The specific claims available depend on what caused the wrongful conviction: fabricated evidence by law enforcement supports a Section 1983 claim; withheld Brady material may support claims against both prosecutors and officers depending on who suppressed the evidence; coerced confessions support due process claims; and Monell liability against the municipality applies when the misconduct reflected a pattern or policy. The New Jersey Mistaken Imprisonment Act provides a separate compensation track for qualifying exonerations. Attorney Nguyen evaluates every available claim when a client has been wrongfully convicted.

A conviction vacated on appeal combined with the prosecution’s decision not to retry generally satisfies the favorable termination requirement for a malicious prosecution claim. If the state declined to retry because the evidence was insufficient or because exculpatory evidence emerged, that termination supports the civil claim. If the conviction was vacated on purely procedural grounds unrelated to innocence, the termination analysis becomes more nuanced and may affect which specific claims are viable. Attorney Nguyen reviews the specific basis for the vacatur and the prosecution’s decision not to retry before advising on the strongest path forward.

The statute of limitations for Section 1983 claims in New Jersey is two years under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2. For malicious prosecution claims, the two-year period begins when the criminal case terminates in the plaintiff’s favor, not at the time of conviction. This means the clock on the civil claim runs from the date of exoneration or acquittal. New Jersey Civil Rights Act claims follow the same two-year period. Applications under the New Jersey Mistaken Imprisonment Act have their own separate procedural requirements. In New York, Section 1983 claims carry a three-year limitations period. Attorney Nguyen identifies every applicable deadline at the initial consultation.

Wrongful imprisonment damages are among the most substantial in civil rights litigation because the harm is so profound and so prolonged. Economic damages include lost wages and earning capacity for every year of incarceration, the cost of criminal defense and post-conviction legal proceedings, and reintegration costs including housing, employment assistance, and mental health treatment. Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, loss of liberty, permanent psychological trauma, destruction of family relationships, and loss of life opportunities that cannot be recovered. Section 1983 also allows attorney fee recovery under 42 U.S.C. Section 1988 when the plaintiff prevails. Punitive damages against individual officers who fabricated evidence or acted with deliberate indifference may also be available. Attorney Nguyen builds the full damages picture from the outset.

Wrongfully Imprisoned? Call Thai Nguyen Law Today.

Wrongful imprisonment cases are time-sensitive and complex. If you or a family member was wrongfully convicted and later exonerated in New Jersey or New York, contact Thai Nguyen Law for a free, confidential consultation. No upfront fees on cases we accept. No costs unless we win.

Call or text: 201-566-1604 | Free Consultation | No Fees Unless We Win