9 Investigates: CMPD legal payments costing taxpayers millions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department does a lot to try to keep Charlotte safe.

The department pulls drugs off the streets and gets justice for innocent victims every day. However, when the department gets it wrong, it can have a devastating and lasting impact.

Take Timothy Bridges, for example. He was 23 when he went to prison.

He was convicted of raping an 83-year-old handicapped woman and sentenced to life.

[PAST COVERAGE: Exonerated Charlotte man who served 25 years in prison sues city, investigators]

"It's something I relive every night and every day," Bridges said.

He was convicted because of two hairs found at the crime scene, but all along, he insisted he was innocent.

During his 25 years in prison, he said he was raped by another inmate and was unable to see his mother when she died.

"I'll never forgive them for taking the 25 years away from me and my mom," Bridges said through tears.

He was exonerated in 2015.

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Prosecutors dismissed the indictments against him after evidence and trial testimony came into question.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police tried testing new DNA from the crime scene, but it confirmed Bridges wasn't a match.

Bridges is now 51.

He used Facebook to track down the high school sweetheart he never forgot, and they got married earlier this year on the beach.

With tears streaming down his face, Bridges said, "I told her I was going to find her. I just wish my mama was alive to see it." Bridges continued saying, "I won't ever have kids. They took that from me but I got three dogs and they're my kids."

After former Gov. Pat McCrory pardoned Bridges, he sued the city of Charlotte for the wrongful rape conviction that stole half his life.

[READ MORE: Man convicted in 1989 rape receives pardon of innocence from Gov. McCrory]

He won $9.5 million in December.

"They never apologized. Here's a check, that's it. No public apology," said an emotional Bridges.

What's more, Bridges' attorney, Sonya Pfeiffer, said the city never promised to fix the problems that led to the conviction.

"We got the clear message from the city attorney that this was not something that the council had the ability to focus on. We offered to do a presentation to the city council, we offered to give them a copy of our mediation video, we offered to give them a copy of our PowerPoint, all rejected," she said.

Pfeiffer worries more lives could be destroyed if city council members don't make sure problems are fixed.

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She said, "When the city pays out $9.5 million I think every taxpayer deserves to know that we're going to go back and do some self reflection."

Other families share the same concerns.

John Poetzsch spoke at a city council meeting in October and asked what has changed since his brother-in-law, Spencer Mims, was killed by police.

“I’m here tonight to ask the question what are you doing to prevent police negligence in the future?” Poetzsch asked the council during the public comment session.

Mims, who was mentally ill, was holding a box cutter to his neck when his family called 911 in 2013.

In April, a jury found police acted negligently when they shot Mims.

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The case cost Charlotte taxpayers more than $280,000.

At the city council meeting, Mayor Vi Lyles told Poetzsch, “We continue to grieve when these situations happen. We submit to you we are continuing to work on it." Poetzsch interjected with, "I appreciate your thoughts, but please stop it in the future.”

Channel 9's Mark Barber went through public records and discovered CMPD lost, settled or had legal costs in 13 cases from January 2017 to June 2018.

In all, the city has paid out more than $11 million for cases with concerning allegations.

One example is the lawsuit from Jeramie Barideaux. He said police assaulted and illegally searched him when he was in his car. That case cost taxpayers $82,258.

Charlotte Mayor pro tem Julie Eiselt heads the city council's safety committee, which CMPD answers to.

She said, "We also see the cases that do get settled and we have that opportunity to ask questions."

Eiselt said after Spencer Mims was killed, the group helped change how officers interact with mentally ill suspects.

[9 Investigates: CMPD training to handle encounters with mentally ill patients]

"A third of our officers have been trained or are getting the training for crisis intervention with mental health training  that exceeds the national average. Could we do better? Absolutely. We could always do better and we'd like to do better."

However, Eiselt said her job stops where the district attorney's job starts.

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She said, "With regard to evidence, I would expect the District Attorney's office and public defenders to be the ones to know what to do about that, not city council."

That doesn't sit well with Bridges, who's still waiting for an apology.

"I put a good front up. Believe me, I put a put a good front up. It's hard," Bridges cried.

While he tries to move forward with his new wife and their new life, he hopes Charlotte is taking the right steps forward, too.

He said, "They need to do the work, that's all. Put the effort into convicting the right people so they don't make this mistake again."

Eiselt said the council is sometimes limited by how much money it's able to spend.

[9 investigates: CMPD officers take on secondary jobs because of low pay]

More than a third of the city's general fund already goes to public safety.

There are more than 2,000 officers on CMPD's force, so costs add up quickly when new training is added.

Cox Media Group