News
Jury Awards $5M Each to Men Wrongfully Imprisoned for Murder
By: Associated Press
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CLEVELAND (AP) – A jury has awarded $5 million each to three Ohio men who spent almost 20 years in jail after being wrongfully imprisoned for murder.
Cleveland.com reports that jurors decided East Cleveland police officers violated the rights of Laurese Glover, Eugene Johnson and Derrick Wheatt throughout an investigation into a 1995 murder.
A judge in March declared the men wrongfully imprisoned. The three have long denied killing 19-year-old Clifton Hudson, and the case against them unraveled when attorneys learned a prosecutor hid reports raising doubt about their guilt.
A judge freed them and ordered a new trial in 2015. Charges were dropped when prosecutors decided not to pursue another trial.
The city and police officers have denied wrongdoing. Their lawyer said after the verdict there are “a lot of appealable issues.”