KY judge dismisses lawsuit blaming Louisville Bail Project in 17-year-old girl's death

In a victory for nonprofit bail organizations, a judge has dismissed an emotionally charged lawsuit filed by the parents of a 17-year–old girl who was killed by a man whom the Louisville Bail Project paid $5,000 to bail out eight days earlier.

Michael J. DeWitt was allegedly driving under the influence in a stolen vehicle when he crossed the centerline on Dixie Highway on March 1, 2021, fatally injuring Madelynn, a senior and cheerleader at Butler High School who had planned to study nursing at Bellarmine University.

Madelynn's parents, Marcy and Jeremy Troutt, alleged the Bail Project was negligent in failing to investigate his criminal record and propensity to reoffend before providing the money that freed him. The couple also said it failed to monitor him after he was released.

But in an opinion Oct. 13, Jefferson Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith said the Bail Project had no such duties.

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“The question comes down to whether posting another person's bail gives rise to a duty to either investigate the person’s suitability for release or to monitor the person's activities afterwards,” she wrote. Kentucky law is clear the answer to this question is no."

Camilo Ramirez, a spokesman for the Bail Project, said he was heartened that Smith had dismissed the case.

“Madelynn Troutt’s death was an unimaginable tragedy,” the statement said. “But this lawsuit was misguided. The fact is that bail is set for one reason: to ensure a person returns to court for future hearings.

“The Bail Project is a nonprofit that has helped thousands of Louisvillians who are too poor to afford bail,” he said. “Our efforts allow people to continue to work and care for their families while awaiting trial and keep the jail from becoming overcrowded with people who have not yet been convicted.”

The Troutts' lawyer said he could not immediately comment because he has not been able to consult with his clients.

Attorneys not involved in the case had predicted it would be almost impossible for the Troutts to prevail. A law librarian and professor at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law told The Courier Journal last winter that he could not find a single reported case in which a third party was found liable for the crimes of someone for whom they posted bail.

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The Bail Project also said it has a First Amendment right to post bail for the indigent.

But the Troutts said the Bail Project failed to reasonably investigate DeWitt’s "extensive criminal history and propensity to reoffend" when it posted bail that allowed him to be freed.

Their lawsuit said that between 2012 and 2019, DeWitt was charged with multiple crimes including burglary, drug possession, breaking and entering, illegal possession of firearms, contempt of court, parole violation, vandalism and criminal trespass.

It said that on Jan. 5, 2021, Shively police found him in a vehicle with a stolen registration plate and illegally possessing opiates while carrying a firearm.

And when he was arrested Feb.16 of that year on the charges for which the Bail Project posted bond, he told police he had taken heroin and "a whole lot of other ----."

Critics of charitable bail last winter initially proposed banning it, but the measure was amended to allow groups such as the Bail Project to pass bonds up to $5,000. That would have allowed it to post DeWitt’s bail.

DeWitt is now being held in Jefferson County Jail on a $500,000 full cash bail.

In addition to the state murder charge, for which he faces up to life in prison, he could be sentenced to death on the federal charge of a carjacking resulting in death for taking a pickup truck at gunpoint from its owner in Shelbyville.

Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Lawsuit blaming Louisville Bail Project in teenager's death dismissed