LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A jury has awarded $75,000 to a Lincoln woman in a lawsuit that accused police and the local Crime Stoppers organization of libel and slander.
A posting on the Crime Stoppers website had accused 26-year-old Shayla Funk of using someone’s stolen credit card to withdraw cash from an ATM.
A video had shown Funk withdrawing cash from her own account in April 2013, but because of an incorrect time stamp on the video, the bank had given police video of the wrong person.
Funk sued the Lincoln-Lancaster County Crime Stoppers Inc. and the Lincoln Police Department. She contended they libeled her by calling her a thief in posts on the Crime Stoppers website and slandered her in two television segments.