Judge OKs Ex-Prisoner's $150M Suit Against NYC

Saturday, Feb 16, 2013 | Updated 2:11 PM EDT

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A judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a man who spent 16 years in prison after police and prosecutors in Brooklyn pressured a witness to falsely implicate him in a murder.

Jabbar Collins was freed in 2010 after a court ruled that he was wrongfully convicted.

He is now suing for $150 million.

In a decision Friday, a federal judge said it was plausible that Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes was "deliberately indifferent'' to misconduct in his office.

During the investigation, a prosecutor used high-pressure tactics to illicit false testimony from a heroin addict, including threatening to have him sent to jail if he didn't cooperate.

A lawyer for the city told The New York Times it would ultimately prevail in the case.