Caleb Sosa Vindicated For Murder At Age 14: $1.1 Million Awarded From City of Detroit In 40-Year Installments

Caleb Sosa is has been acquitted of murder after serving time in a violent juvenile lockup since he was 14-years-old. The city of Detroit is ordered to pay Sosa, now 19, $1.1 million because city lawyers failed to file a timely answer in court. The teenager claimed he was tricked into putting his initials on the confession which violated his civil rights, but was never tested in the lawsuit.

 Head of Detroit's law department, Krystal Crittendon said, "The judge found that mistakes were made."  The embarrassing mistake could have gotten worse if Sosa's attorney, Ronnie Cromer Jr. could have argued about police tactics, which he then would have sued the broke city for $20 million.

Attorney Deborah Gordon said, "That's flat-out malpractice," she added, "Municipalities should be sophisticated and responsible to deal with this stuff. Even if you're overwhelmed with work, you cannot allow a default. Get a calendar."

In 2007 a 13-year-old was shot and killed while another was shot yet survived his wounds and identified Sosa as the masked shooter. Sosa said this week, "They're telling me, 'You killed somebody.' I kept telling them over and over again: I had nothing to do with it."

The free teenager told the associated press, that he was sleeping in his pajamas when police arrived at his home, "I did not know how to read. I did not know how to write. As far as a confession, I had no idea what it was," he said. "Police told me to sign right here and you can go home. I didn't even know how to put my initials. I asked them to show me how to write a 'C' and a 'V' and an 'S.'"

Sosa will receive the $1.1 million in a 40-year installment as his mother will get $80,380. In an interview with the Associated Press Sosa said, "I was 14. I was a baby," he said. "This is a scar inside my head and inside my heart. ... I got arrested for a crime I did not commit. They grabbed me and put the blame on me."