Wrongful conviction case hits new snag

Font Size:

BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.933.3364 | Tuesday, July 29, 2008 | (No comments posted.)

HAMMOND | City officials want to pay $4.5 million to settle with a man they wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years, and the man wants to accept.

But federal judges are standing in the way, at least for now.

In 2006, Larry Mayes won a lawsuit he filed against the Hammond Police Department, which manipulated evidence to send Mayes to prison for a 1980 rape that modern DNA evidence now proves he did not commit.

Police officials admitted at trial that a detective on the case had used hypnotism on the victim of the attack to try to produce memories of her assailant, despite department policy against the unorthodox technique.

A federal jury awarded Mayes $9 million.

While the verdict was out on appeal, city officials and Mayes' attorneys agreed to settle the case out of court for $4.5 million -- but only if city officials floated a bond for the settlement and if federal judges agreed to invalidate the $9 million judgment.

The Hammond City Council approved the bond in April, but the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the request to throw out the jury award.

Many appeals courts across the country will automatically vacate an earlier court decision in order to promote settlements, but the Chicago-based 7th Circuit has refused, citing a concern about wasting judicial resources and other issues, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry wrote.

"The parties do not have a settlement without the entry of an order vacating the jury verdict," Cherry wrote.

Hammond City Counsel Joseph O'Connor said the city wants the Mayes case erased from the court record before a similar case becomes and issue -- that of James T. Hill, who served 17 years in prison on the same 1980 rape and who also argues his DNA does not match samples recovered from the victim. City officials are expecting a lawsuit in that case based on court filings from Hill in Lake County court.

Despite the 7th Circuit's reluctance to invalidate the Mayes verdict, Cherry gave both sides until Aug. 8 to submit arguments regarding why the court should toss out a verdict that came after a two-week trial and "many hours of deliberation."

"I think it's just a small glitch, and it's going to be overcome. And this will be resolved," O'Connor said.

Back to story No comments posted.

Please note: Comments from readers will be screened and may not be posted immediately. If you don't see your comment perhaps:

It wasn't clear, concise or focused on the topic in the story.
It was a personal attack, vulgar, explicit or degrading, used actual or implied profanity or contained potentially libelous statements.
It accused someone of being guilty of a crime.
It promoted violence or illegal acts.
It contained telephone numbers or street addresses, or e-mail addresses and links to Web sites other than nwi.com or government agencies.

In no way do these comments represent the views of The Times or Lee Enterprises.

Passionate views, pointed criticism and critical thinking are welcome. Name-calling, crude and profane language and personal abuse are not welcome.

Reader comments will not be edited - they will be approved or declined. They may be used in the print edition of the newspaper.

If you feel a posted comment has violated these guidelines, please email our New Media team the commenter's name, the comment and a link to the article.

For more information please read our Terms of Service.

Back to story No comments posted.

Post a comment Once your comments are approved, they will appear here.

Marketplace

Sections

Services

Other Publications

Search