What to watch for now
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Punitive damages stand. The court said jurors had a solid basis to conclude the trooper misrepresented or omitted material facts in warrant papers with at least reckless disregard for the truth. That supports the $10M punitive hit against him.
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No absolute cloak for the ex-prosecutor. Actions taken outside a classic prosecutorial role don’t get absolute immunity, the judge reiterated in refusing relief for the former AAG.
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A rare accountability case. The near-$60M total reflects $33.4M compensatory plus $25M punitive ($10M vs. Busacca; $15M vs. Kolodziej) — an unusual outcome given the hurdles of immunity defenses.
DETROIT — A federal judge refused Friday to overturn a $58 million jury verdict for a Florida police officer who proved his ex-wife and two Michigan officials conspired to frame him on false child sexual abuse charges, dealing a final blow to defendants who claimed immunity from the massive damages award.
U.S. District Judge Stephen J. Murphy III denied post-trial motions from Michigan State Police trooper David Busacca and former Assistant Attorney General Brian Kolodziej, who had argued they deserved qualified and absolute immunity, respectively, from Sean MacMaster’s successful malicious prosecution lawsuit.
The August 12 verdict awarded MacMaster $33.4 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages after a three-week trial that exposed how personal relationships and prosecutorial misconduct destroyed a police lieutenant’s career and landed him in solitary confinement for 151 days on fabricated charges.
MacMaster, formerly a lieutenant with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, sued in 2021 after prosecutors dismissed all charges against him in December 2019. His complaint detailed how his ex-wife Johanna MacMaster falsely accused him of sexually abusing their 4-year-old daughter during a bitter custody dispute, then leveraged her family connection to Kolodziej to trigger a bogus criminal investigation.
Court records show Johanna MacMaster’s cousin was romantically involved with Kolodziej, who reached out to trooper Busacca in 2018 to investigate the allegations despite the case falling outside his official duties as an assistant attorney general. The investigation proceeded even after the child admitted to lying about the abuse allegations.
Judge Murphy’s Friday order rejected Busacca’s qualified immunity defense, finding the trooper “had evidence that the abuse allegations were bogus, but he pressed forward nevertheless.” The court determined Busacca “misrepresented or omitted material facts from his affidavit and arrest warrant application intentionally, deliberately, or with reckless disregard for the truth.”
“He hid material evidence from judges, swallowed his own doubts about the case, and let others change his police report to cover up the origins of the case,” Murphy wrote. “All told, the facts justify an award of punitive damages.”
The judge also maintained his earlier ruling that absolute prosecutorial immunity didn’t protect Kolodziej because he acted outside his prosecutorial role. Kolodziej, who has since been disbarred, resigned from the attorney general’s office after revelations he was having a sexual relationship with a complainant in an unrelated case.
MacMaster’s arrest in Florida made national news in May 2019 before he was extradited to Michigan and held in solitary confinement pending trial. Though he eventually regained his position with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, he returned at a lower rank with substantially reduced pay, according to court filings.
The case represents one of the larger malicious prosecution verdicts on record against individual government officials, reflecting growing judicial willingness to hold law enforcement accountable for constitutional violations. The $58.4 million award includes $10 million in punitive damages against Busacca and $15 million against Kolodziej.
Both defendants can still appeal the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Their attorneys did not respond to requests for comment Friday evening.
MacMaster is represented by Joshua A. Blanchard and Melissa Freeman of Blanchard Law. Kolodziej is represented by Peter W. Peacock of Peacock Law PC. Busacca is represented by Audrey J. Forbush, Michael Dean Hanchett and Regan Glenn of Plunkett Cooney.
The case is Sean MacMaster v. David Busacca et al., case number 2:21-cv-11052, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
