A man has filed suit against the City of New York and several police officers, alleging he was wrongfully prosecuted and imprisoned for 14 years for a murder he did not commit.
The lawsuit filed by plaintiff Steven Ruffin names the City of New York and detectives Louis Scarcella, Ivan Rivera, and others as defendants. The case stems from a February 5, 1996, incident in which Ruffin’s sister was robbed outside her Brooklyn home by James Deligny. Ruffin, along with Johnne Glover and others, pursued Deligny. According to the suit, Glover shot Deligny after Deligny allegedly made a gesture suggesting he had a gun.
Despite this sequence of events, Ruffin was arrested and charged with Deligny's murder based on what he asserts were coerced confessions and false identifications orchestrated by detectives Scarcella and Rivera. According to the complaint, these detectives used suggestive identification procedures and psychological coercion to extract false confessions from Ruffin. The Kings County District Attorney’s Office later acknowledged that "Mr. Ruffin was convicted for the actions of a different person whom he claimed to be the killer all along."
Ruffin's conviction was overturned in 2024 following a decade-long reinvestigation by various legal entities, including the Kings County District Attorney’s Office’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU). The CRU found that key evidence against Ruffin was unreliable or fabricated, leading to his exoneration. The lawsuit alleges that systemic issues within the NYPD and KCDA allowed such misconduct to occur unchecked during the late 20th century.
Ruffin is seeking monetary damages under federal civil rights laws, including 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988, as well as under New York State law and New York City Administrative Code § 8-803. He accuses city officials of tolerating corrupt practices. Among other claims, Ruffin charges malicious prosecution under both state law and federal statutes due to lack of probable cause in his arrest and trial.
The plaintiff demands compensation for wrongful prosecution, conviction, imprisonment, parole restrictions, as well as punitive damages against individual defendants for their roles in violating his constitutional rights. He also seeks attorney fees under applicable statutes.
Ruffin is represented by the attorneys of the Law Offices of Joel B. Rudin P.C. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under Case ID: 25-cv-2138.