CORAL SPRINGS- A misspelled name cost Donnie Ray Boone 41 days in jail. Thursday, a Broward  jury put a price tag on the error: $500,000.00. The verdict was leveled against the city of Coral Springs and a police detective who typed Boone when the real suspect was Bohn.  "Justice was finally served," said Gary Mark Paige, one of Boone's lawyers  "The jury treated Donnie Ray Boone fairly.  It would have been nice if the Coral Springs Police Department would at least apologize."  The case dates to 1989, when Coral Springs police were investigating a stolen car case.  The suspect was the victim's roommate.  His name: Donald Bohn.  But when detective Lawrence Cambi typed the suspect's name into a computer, he spelled the last name Boone, Paige said. Up popped the name of Donnie Ray Boone. Even though Boone lived in Orlando, police filed papers for his arrest.  When Orlando police stopped Boone on a traffic violation, they spotted the warrant.  Boone was booked and handcuffed.

Sent to Broward, Boone served 41 days behind bars before the error was corrected.  The real suspect-Donald Bohn-eventually was arrested.  For a few days before the mix-up was resolved, the two men-Boone and Bohn-were locked up in the same jail, Paige said. In 1993, Boone filed a civil-rights lawsuit, claiming his constitutional rights and freedoms were violated.  Thursday, jurors in the courtroom of Broward Circuit Judge John A. Miller came back with the verdict:

• $245,000.00 for pain, suffering and embarrassment.
• $245,000.00 for future pain, suffering and embarrassment.
• $10,000.00 for lost wages.

But the cost to the city could be higher.  Boone's lawyers will try to get the city to pay their fees and costs, Paige said. "These things happen, and it's unfortunate," City Manager Tony O'Rourke said, noting that the city intends to appeal.  "People are going to make errors in judgment.  Unfortunately, in this litigious society it can be very expensive."