Louisville to pay $3.8 million in wrongful conviction settlement tied to former detective’s evidence tampering case

Louisville will pay $3.8 million to Keith West to resolve a wrongful-conviction lawsuit stemming from the overturning of West’s two 1997 manslaughter convictions, according to a report published Thursday. West had sued former Louisville Police Detective Mark Handy, alleging misconduct tied to the evidence used to secure the convictions.

Handy pleaded guilty in 2021 to tampering with physical evidence in connection with West’s cases, setting the predicate for the later litigation over wrongful imprisonment. The settlement is described as the latest resolution in West’s effort to obtain damages after the convictions were overturned.

West’s suit focused on the impact of the original prosecutions and the role that alleged evidence tampering played in the outcome of the criminal cases. Both convictions involved manslaughter charges from 1997, and the report says they were later overturned, leaving West seeking compensation for time served and other consequences of the convictions.

Under the settlement terms described in the Thursday report, the city’s payment of $3.8 million closes the dispute tied to Handy’s conduct. The reporting does not describe additional penalties, separate disciplinary outcomes, or whether other claims remain pending, and the agreement amount is presented as the central financial figure in the case’s latest phase.

The case also underscores how misconduct by law enforcement personnel can translate into significant financial exposure for local governments. Wrongful-conviction settlements can involve direct payments to plaintiffs, as well as attendant legal costs incurred during prolonged litigation over constitutional rights, evidentiary integrity, and the reliability of convictions.

The 2021 guilty plea by Handy serves as the key criminal backdrop to the civil case, according to the report. Handy’s plea addressed tampering with physical evidence tied to West’s convictions, and that admitted conduct became part of the factual basis for later questions about whether the earlier prosecutions met due-process requirements.

With the settlement reported on Oct. 9, 2026, the next steps for the parties will be limited to implementing the agreement terms and handling any remaining procedural matters. The city and West will each move on from the claims covered by the settlement, while the broader public accountability questions raised by the original evidence issues remain a matter for courts, internal review, and public record.