St. Louis Man FIles Suit Over 23 Year Wrongful Conviction
The AP is reporting:
A man who spent 23 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit sued St. Louis County and the officers who arrested him, saying investigators ignored inconsistencies in the victim's description. Johnny Briscoe, now 54, was freed in 2006 after DNA evidence exonerated him. He filed suit earlier this month in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. The suit claims his constitutional rights were violated and seeks unspecified damages.
The crime occurred in October 1982, in the suburb of Maryland Heights. A man burglarized a woman's apartment and raped her when she awoke. He talked to her a while and gave his name as John Briscoe. The woman later picked Briscoe's picture out of a lineup.
But the lawsuit pointed to several inconsistencies. The victim described the attacker as dark-skinned, about 5-foot-8, with normal teeth and a mustache. Briscoe is a light-skinned black man and 6-2, and had a gold-capped front tooth and a goatee.Even so, Briscoe was convicted by an all-white jury. He said his defense attorney never met with him. When the case was reopened, DNA on a cigarette butt at the rape scene was found to belong to Larry Smith, an acquaintance of Briscoe's who is serving a life term for another sexual assault.
Under state law, Briscoe was eligible for up to $36,500 in compensation for each year he was wrongly incarcerated, or more than $800,000, but he would have had to agree not to sue. Newman said the compensation falls short and Briscoe is confident he can win in court.
As highlighted previously by the Center, police officers and City are generally an easy target for lawsuits. Under the civil rights laws, anyone can file suit against them. Here, it appears, Mr. Bricoe's defense lawyer played a big role in landing him in jail for all these years. If his claim is true, that his defense lawyer never met with him, that would be gross malpractice. Chances are his defense lawyer does not have the deep pockets the City has. His defense lawyer will likely skirt any liability.
An interesting point is also raised by the fact that the DNA that exonerated Mr. Briscoe is linked to a friend of his, Larry Smith. The Center has seen other case in which the DNA, although failing to link to the individual in custody, still does not exonerate the person. For example, many crimes are committed by multiple individuals or individuals participate in the crime at various points. Here, we know, Mr. Briscoe most probably was not smoking a cigarette.
As to the compensation Mr. Briscoe rejected, similar financial compensation offers exist in many states. It St. Louis, it appears, if Briscoe rejects the offer, he will need to role the dice in a lawsuit. Here is a breakdown of compensation options per state.
