Provincetown pays former arson suspect $80K
A month after his arrest, however, the case began to fall apart. An
Stinson and his husband,
"He (Stinson) was disparaged in a small town," Stinson's attorney,
The couple sued the town manager, the
The case was moved to federal court because Aspesi included
Stinson's arrest was based on a confession he allegedly made in 2008 when he came to an acquaintance's door drunk and despondent, repeatedly saying he "was the arsonist," according to the police report.
That placed Stinson on the police's radar as a suspect. But his arrest came five years later, after police interviewed Stinson's husband in
At that time, police showed Johnson an FBI photograph of the sole of a shoe that matched a footprint found on the beach after an
In the lawsuit, Aspesi said
"The defendants ... owed a duty to the plaintiff to have only qualified sworn police officers or licensed private investigators investigate the crimes he was alleged to have committed," the complaint said.
After arresting Stinson, the police returned to the couple's apartment and took Johnson into protective custody. That was done, the suit alleged, so officers could search the apartment without him present.
The complaint also charged Police Chief
The lawsuit originally sought
"My client is happy with the outcome, and he's happy it's over and he can move on with his life," Aspesi said.
Although the town agreed to the confidentiality agreement, the amount of the settlement is public because it is a municipal case, Louison said.
Neither Panagore nor Golden would comment on whether the lawsuit led to staff or policy changes in town.
Both parties agreed to go through mediation to settle the case, Louison said.
"I agree mediation was the way to go in this case," Aspesi said. "We solved the case a lot faster, and it saved everybody a lot of money."
The arson spree started with a nighttime grass fire
The most significant blaze,
A fire
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