Counties settle suit with wrongly jailed Vegas performer
Posted March 13, 2019 11:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RENO, Nev. — Two rural Nevada counties have agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former Las Vegas entertainer who was wrongfully jailed for 18 days for a burglary he didn’t commit in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
Sean Laughlin filed a federal lawsuit suit against Nye and Lyon counties in October accusing them of violating his constitutional due process rights and Nevada law requiring that jailed suspects see a judge within 72 hours.
His ordeal began in December 2016 when a state trooper stopped him for a minor traffic offence in Carson City. A routine warrant check showed a different Sean Laughlin was wanted for failing to appear in court for a residential burglary in Pahrump, 385 miles (620 kilometres) away.
His Reno lawyer, Terri Keyser-Cooper, said Wednesday they are elated with the settlement.
Scott Sonner, The Associated Press
