By Brianna Kudisch | NJ.com
nj.com
BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — A former police chief has settled his nearly decade-old federal lawsuit against the city of Hackensack, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for a total of $3.9 million.
The municipality and the two law enforcement agencies separately agreed to pay Charles “Ken” Zisa $1.3 million each to resolve claims that his federal and state civil rights were violated. The former assemblyman sought more than $29 million in damages in the 2017 lawsuit.
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The litigation stemmed from his criminal convictions several years earlier, which were later overturned.
Zisa served as Hackensack’s police chief from 1995 through 2012.
His attorney, Henry Klingeman, told NJ.com that all three agencies have settled and there are no remaining defendants from the lawsuit.
In a statement, Klingeman called the settlements “a very good start.”
“The people in charge at Hackensack now are not the same people responsible for what happened to Chief Zisa,” he said. “The people in charge now recognize the wrong that was done to him: A group of law enforcement officials and prosecutors engineered a malicious prosecution, at the end of which Chief Zisa was exonerated.”
“Like other wrongfully convicted innocent persons, Chief Zisa will be compensated for his actual pain and suffering, including the wrongful confinement of him, not to mention the professional and personal opportunities lost to him,” he added. “This miscarriage of justice never should have happened and it has taken too long to begin to make a wrong right again.”
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment, citing civil litigation. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Hackensack City Council members voted July 14 to approve the city’s settlement with Zisa.
Hackensack Mayor Caseen Gaines called the agreement — which consists of $450,000 from the city and $850,000 from the city’s insurance carrier, Selective Insurance Company — a “decisive, fiscally sound settlement” that insulates residents from a larger payout.
“For nearly a decade, the previous administration spared no expense to keep a $29 million lawsuit on the books because, for them, it was political theater, all while hiding the fact that their inaction left taxpayers holding 100% of the financial risk,” Gaines said.
“This administration did what they couldn’t: We broke the decade-long gridlock and forced the City’s insurance carrier to the table, ultimately compelling them to fund the lion’s share — $850,000 — of the settlement,” he added. “Our predecessors’ reckless path would have likely cost our residents millions in damages and seemingly endless legal fees.”
The lengthy case stems from allegations in 2008 that Zisa removed his then-girlfriend from the scene of a car crash before she could submit to a sobriety test. In 2012, he was charged and convicted of official misconduct and insurance fraud.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for misconduct, but was allowed to serve his sentence on house arrest while awaiting the result of his appeal of the criminal convictions, according to NorthJersey.com.
An appellate panel overturned all of his convictions in two separate decisions. Zisa was awarded $2.8 million in back pay and legal costs. He then filed his lawsuit in 2017.
Zisa also served as an assemblyman in the state’s 37th District from 1993 until 2001, when he gave up his seat to make an unsuccessful run for Bergen County Sheriff.
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