Jury Awards $5.7M Verdict In Wrongful Murder Conviction Case

NEW MILFORD, CT — A federal jury on Wednesday awarded $5.7 million to a man who served decades in prison for a 1985 murder he didn’t commit.

Ralph “Ricky” Birch sued the town of New Milford in U.S. District Court in 2020.

Birch and another man, Shawn Henning, were both convicted in 1989 for the murder of Everett Carr, who was fatally stabbed and beaten in his home on Dec. 2, 1985. Their convictions were ultimately overturned.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Mayor Pete Bass notified residents of the jury’s decision to award Birch $5.7 million.

According to Bass, Henning previously reached a settlement agreement with the town for $2.5 million. The state of Connecticut settled with the two men for $25.2 million, which the legislature approved in 2024.

Bass said he would be meeting with the town’s attorneys Thursday to discuss the jury’s verdict and how to pay for the judgment.

Bass also plans to discuss the matter with the Town Council at its meeting on Monday, March 24. He said he will provide residents with an update after that meeting.

According to the lawsuit, Birch and Henning were troubled teenagers at the time of the murder, “not sophisticated criminal masterminds.”

“After Ricky and Shawn spent decades in prison for a crime they did not commit, a thorough post-conviction investigation proved their innocence,” the lawsuit states.

According to the lawsuit, which criticizes investigators’ handling of the case, none of the blood found at the crime scene matched the two men. Fingerprints, DNA and bloody footprints at the scene didn’t match them either, the lawsuit says.

“The idea that they could have committed an exceptionally gory murder while leaving no physical trace of themselves and picking up no physical trace of the victim is absurd,” the lawsuit states.

“The DNA of a still-unknown person was found mixed with the blood and DNA of the victim on his clothing, on a piece of the murder weapon, in a bloody footprint on the floor, and in a smear of blood found on a box in the victim’s dresser,” the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, Birch isn’t angry or bitter, and instead he has begun to move forward and build a new life for himself.

“He does, however, demand justice—the justice he has been denied since a cold night in the winter of 1985, and the justice he deserves,” the lawsuit says.

Birch spent about three decades in prison, and continues to suffer mental anguish and distress, according to the lawsuit. While incarcerated, he witnessed violence and lived through riots and brawls, including narrowly escaping an attempted stabbing, the lawsuit states.

Attorney Damon A. R. Kirschbaum, who represents Birch, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Attorney Elliot B. Spector, who represents New Milford, said via email Thursday, “The Supreme Court decision to overturn the conviction was unrelated to the liability issues in this case and the parties stipulated to that fact. We were pleased with the verdicts finding no civil rights violations and the verdict in favor of (former police detective) Steve Jordan on the negligence claim.”