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NAPLES — An East Naples man jailed for nearly four years while proclaiming his innocence is suing the Collier County sheriff and two deputies, accusing them of ignoring eyewitnesses who said he wasn't the driver in a fatal crash.
Kevin Shinsky, 44, recently filed his civil rights lawsuit, 16 months after the State Attorney's Office dismissed vehicular homicide charges against him involving the Nov. 4, 2006, death of Michelle Sommers, 38, of East Naples.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, lists as defendants Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and sheriff's corporals Karen Hebebrand and Johnny Joe Cisnero, a deputy who has been named in 19 internal affairs complaints, many of which allege he lied, planted evidence and harassed people. Investigators exonerated him in all.
The lawsuit alleges false arrest and malicious prosecution, contending Cisnero, who had harassed him for years, lied when he said Shinsky confessed he'd been the driver.
"This is another example of incompetent investigative work resulting in the arrest of an innocent man," said Colleen MacAlister, Shinsky's Naples attorney.
"Even if CCSO could somehow justify the initial arrest without probable cause, the two witnesses that both saw and spoke to the unidentified man that got out of the burning car specifically excluded Kevin Shinsky as that man and yet he sat in jail for almost four more years after he had been excluded," she added. "There was no investigation into who was in the vehicle that day."
Rambosk, who contends Shinsky was the driver, said his prior statements remain accurate, adding, "Nothing has changed other than the filing of this lawsuit that will ultimately be decided by the court."
In a statement last year, Rambosk said probable cause existed to arrest Shinsky, but the State Attorney's Office must have proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction.
Rambosk has said Cisnero's statements were a minor part of the probable cause and he questioned the truthfulness of an eyewitness who came forward years later to confirm Shinsky's account. Rambosk noted he has a long criminal history and was Shinsky's cellmate.
The sheriff pointed out that a paycheck used to help clear Shinsky was time-stamped four minutes before the crash and cashed at a Publix just a minute away from the Thomasson Drive crash.
Shinsky, a father of two, has maintained he had a suspended license due to child support debts and didn't drive, so Sommers drove him in his then-girlfriend, Barbara Parrack's, car to Publix so he could cash his paycheck, then drove off.
Minutes later, he saw a Hispanic man driving Sommers, so he tried to grab the keys and hung on as the man drove off, injuring him as he fell off. He saw the car again minutes later, but Sommers was driving and he told her he was going to report the car as stolen. He said he cashed his check after she sped off.
Witnesses saw the car speeding before the car struck two parked cars, flipped over several times and landed on three parked vehicles at the Embarq building. Sommers was ejected, hit a building, landed on concrete and died instantly.
Since his arrest, Shinsky wrote to the State Attorney's Office to demand a speedy trial, and to the Supreme Court, judges and his lawyers, proclaiming his innocence. His other attorneys, David Agoston and Jamie Chandler of Naples, hired John Hisler and Associates investigations, which went through depositions and reports and discovered many inconsistencies that suggested Shinsky's innocence.
Among them were:
Two eyewitnesses shown a photo lineup said Shinsky wasn't the bleeding man who crawled out of the burning car. They said the man was Hispanic, had a forehead injury, clutched his side and limped away. Shinsky didn't have a forehead injury and his injuries were consistent with being dragged and falling off the car.
His check was time-stamped four minutes before the 1:50 p.m. crash and cellphone records show he called Parrack to say her car had been stolen and checked voicemails, beginning at 1:39 p.m, then at 1:50 and 1:50:52 p.m., 1:56 p.m., 1:57 p.m., and 2 p.m. Years later, an eyewitness came forward to say he saw Shinsky hanging onto the car and falling off as it sped off and asked if he needed help.
Among the lawsuit's allegations are that Cisnero continued to question Shinsky, even pulling out his Taser, after he asked for an attorney and refused to talk. The suit contends Cisnero's report, which Hebebrand relied on, contains statements Cisnero fabricated, including that Shinsky said, "When I climbed out of the vehicle, she wasn't there. What happened to her?"
"These statements ... are patently false and Cisnero knew they were false at the time he made them," the lawsuit says, contending Shinsky was cashing a check when the crash occurred.
The lawsuit alleges Hebebrand's report didn't disclose that she'd handcuffed Parrack and threatened her with obstruction if she didn't disclose where Shinsky was and included a "purposefully inaccurate account" of Parrack's statements.
"When Parrack attempted to file a stolen car report so her insurance company would investigate the crash," the lawsuit says, "Hebebrand threatened Parrack with arrest for filing a false report and threatened to add another charge to Shinsky for stealing a vehicle."
