A man who was wrongly jailed on Rikers Island for 17 months has accepted a $145,000 settlement with the city because a detective misidentified his fingerprints. Dwight Gomas was residing in Atlanta in 2004 when he was suddenly arrested by U.S. marshals for an armed robbery at a Howard Beach jewelry store. Detective Eileen Barrett had matched a partial finger print from the crime scene to Gomas, whose prints were on file after his only prior arrest as an adult: driving with a suspended license in Brooklyn. Gomas maintained his innocence before a grand jury, but was indicted and couldn't make bail. Languishing on Rikers, his Legal Aid lawyer urged him to accept a plea offer of five years in prison, but he refused. Luckily, veteran detective Daniel Perruzzaa finally conducted a routine review of the fingerprints. He tells the Daily News, "When I looked at it, I said, 'You know what? This is a screwup; this is not his fingerprints." Oopsy! Gomas was released after 523 days in jail, but by then his girlfriend and their child moved in with another man. On the plus side, he pulled in $145K in less than two years on Rikers, so we're sure there's no hard feelings. 
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$145k? That's IT?!
my sentiments exactly.
you can sue a doctor for malpractice so why not a detective for incompetence?
"Gomas, 31, agreed to the settlement from the city last month in Brooklyn Federal Court over the objection of his lawyer who believed he could have gotten a lot more."
"Oopsy! Gomas was released after 523 days in jail, but by then his girlfriend and their child moved in with another man. On the plus side, he pulled in $145K in less than two years on Rikers, so we're sure there's no hard feelings."
What kind of f'ing comment is that? Just b/c he received a decent settlement balances out the act of his gf and his child moving in with someone else OK? Or are you trying to stereotype that the guy had a pretty low-paying job and that by being falsely arrested and compensated back that he won the lotto?
i hear jerry bruckheimer bought the movie rights and is going to call it 'count of monte cristo 2: escape from rikers'
"Oopsy! Gomas was released after 523 days in jail, but by then his girlfriend and their child moved in with another man. On the plus side, he pulled in $145K in less than two years on Rikers, so we're sure there's no hard feelings."
What kind of f'ing comment is that? Just b/c he received a decent settlement balances out the act of his gf and his child moving in with someone else OK? Or are you trying to stereotype that the guy had a pretty low-paying job and that by being falsely arrested and compensated back that he won the lotto?
you want a toe...I can get you a toe....
WITH nail polish!
John, I like most your work, but you need to keep comments like, "On the plus side, he pulled in $145K in less than two years on Rikers, so we're sure there's no hard feelings." to yourself.
If it was my father, brother, husband...anyone I care about that was locked up for two years, no amount of money can ever replace that lost time. His daughter is going to grow up calling someone else Daddy, his girlfriend goes to sleep with another man every night, I can't imagine the pain he must have suffered both physically and mentally while being locked up. Don't be a douch, keep your personal comments out of the story.
Uh, that's obviously sarcasm.
How many of John's articles have you read? Its a trend with him, I highly doubt that was sarcasm, but if it was, I apologize.
Its still a very douch-y comment though.
Um..how many have YOU read? Every article has sarcastic commentary!
Exactly. JDS is Gothamist's officially sanctioned troll.
Al Fredo, I've read my fair share and all i'm saying that there is a time and place, thats all! I just thought that particular comment was IMHO was out of place. :(
@schadenfreudian mensch: Very true about the girlfriend, but if you thought that your girlfriend/boyfriend had a snowball's chance in hell of getting out, would you stay?
You really need to look on the bright side of things especially with that whorish ex-gf. In less than a year she shacks up with someone else?? All that says to me is she totally had no faith that he was ever going to get out of jail or believed that he was innocent at all. All she was doing is looking out for herself. Good riddance. The only neg would be not seeing his daughter.
But who is to say the girlfriend won't be back when she hears about the $145K? Hope springs eternal.
Also, is the $145K taxable? I thought court settlements weren't subject to taxes. Is this true?
"Pain and suffering" is tax-free.
How can the NYPD let detectives read fingerprints without confirmation from an expert source (FBI or State Police Techs)? The guy went in for 17 months and was awarded $145,000 probably less lawyers fees and taxes. Now, that's a crime.
ONLY $145k? Fuck that, you can't replace 17 months of your life for anything close to that... This detective needs to lose his job.
Word.
Dam, if I was his lawyer I'd be pissed!
"Both detectives are now retired."
"Both detectives are now retired."
You forgot "with a big fat pension along with $200k of OT courtesy from the citizen of NYC.
LOL
Big ups to Daniel Perruzzaa for catching this mistake. There are departments elsewhere in the country where that would not have happened.
makes me glad I dont have a finger print on record yet