CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A man exonerated after spending 23 years in prison has filed a lawsuit accusing the city of Cheyenne of violating his constitutional rights by failing to have or uphold policies that might have prevented his conviction.
Andrew Johnson, 67, was convicted of rape in 1989 and freed in 2013 after DNA collected from the victim matched her fiance, not Johnson.
The federal lawsuit alleges police “prompted or encouraged” the woman to say Johnson broke into her apartment and sexually assaulted her, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle (https://bit.ly/2oRth3w) reported.
“This is the most profound tragedy in the history of Wyoming’s judicial system,” Johnson’s lead attorney, Robert Schuster, said Thursday.
Johnson is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Like many states, Wyoming has no law requiring exonerated prisoners to be compensated. An effort to change that and protect cities from lawsuits like Johnson’s failed in the Legislature in 2014.
Mayor Marian Orr said she could not comment on the merits of the lawsuit. The Wyoming Association of Risk Management, a municipal insurance pool, will be handling the case on behalf of the city, Orr said.
A jury convicted Johnson of aggravated burglary and first-degree sexual assault. Police had collected DNA evidence but use of such evidence in criminal cases was still in its infancy at the time.
The DNA went untested until 2013. Investigators determined the sample matched the victim’s fiance, not Johnson, and prosecutors dismissed the charges.
Other defendants in the case include a police officer who responded to the scene and the estate of the lead police detective on the case, who died in 2007.
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Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle, https://www.wyomingnews.com
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