Federal jury awards woman over $1M after finding no cocaine

ATLANTA - A woman who spent five months in jail on false drug charges was awarded more than a million dollars in federal court. Now one question remains: Who is responsible for paying her?

A jury found that an Atlanta police officer falsely accused the woman of hiding cocaine inside an exercise ball when she was stopped on the street for jaywalking and was searched.

The woman was arrested and spent a month behind bars before an analysis completed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation showed that the substance was not cocaine at all. Still, she was kept incarcerated under the same charges for an additional four months.

Originally, the police officer under the judgment was stuck with the bill. His wages were being garnished until city leaders took over the responsibility, under the direction of Mayor Dickens.