Van de Velde
On December 7, 2001, Van de Velde sued the NHPD in federal court in Connecticut claiming they violated his civil rights by naming only him publicly as a suspect while claiming that other suspects existed as well. Van de Velde added Yale as a defendant on April 15, 2003. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny dismissed the federal claims with prejudice and the state law claims without prejudice on March 15, 2004. Van de Velde asked Chatigny to reconsider in May 2006, resulting in the judge reinstating both the state and federal claims on December 11, 2007. On June 3, 2013, New Haven and Yale agreed to a monetary settlement with Van de Velde. State's Attorney Michael Dearington admitted publicly for the first time that Van de Velde is no longer a suspect in the murder.