NEWS

59-year-old man freed after 20 years sues Ohio

Associated Press

TOLEDO – A man who spent almost 20 years behind bars for murder before being freed has sued the state for wrongful imprisonment, hoping it will allow him to collect compensation for the time he was incarcerated.

Danny Brown is making his second attempt to win a wrongful-imprisonment lawsuit and clear his name. He is still waiting to be fully exonerated.

A state appeals court turned down his case nine years ago, saying Brown didn't prove that prosecutors would not charge him again. Brown's attorney, Patrick Quinn, said time has proved that to be wrong.

Brown, 59, was sentenced to life in prison in 1982 for the death of 28-year-old Bobbi Russell, a mother of three whom he had dated. She had been raped and strangled with an extension cord.

Her 6-year-old son testified that Brown was the one who hurt his mother. But his story had inconsistencies.

He was freed in 2001 after DNA from the victim didn't match him. He also passed a lie-detector test.

Prosecutors have said they still consider him a suspect even though the DNA pointed to a different man convicted in another murder.

"I want an apology. I want to be treated like a human being," Brown told media outlets after filing the lawsuit Wednesday.

A spokeswoman with the state attorney general's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Brown said the evidence backs him up.

"There has been plenty of cases where DNA has overruled eyewitness testimony, regardless of what the person is saying," Brown said. "Because ultimately, the science is telling the truth, and the individual eyewitness was faulty in their testimony."

Brown could be eligible to receive about $42,000 for each year he was confined if his lawsuit is successful.