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Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction

By TChris, Section Innocence Cases
Posted on Mon Aug 29, 2005 at 02:52:04 PM EST
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by TChris

John Schweer, a security guard and former police officer in Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed with a shotgun in 1977. Two black teenagers were charged with his murder. Prosecutors failed to provide the defense with reports concerning a 47-year-old white man who carried a shotgun while walking his dogs in the area. The man seems like a good suspect:

The man had been a suspect in a 1963 slaying and had faced gun charges. The man failed a lie detector test when asked if he had shot John Schweer, a police report concluded.

Despite having alibis, the teens, Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee, were convicted on the testimony of individuals who have since recanted. Harrington and McGhee have sued Pottawattamie County Attorney Dave Richter, his assistant Joseph Hrvol, and Council Bluffs police detectives Daniel C. Larsen and Lyle W. Brown, alleging that the police and prosecutors framed them in a racially motivated conspiracy.

The lawsuits portray police and prosecutors as obsessed with finding Schweer’s killer. Police targeted Harrington and McGhee after a group of teenagers said they had seen the pair in the area.

Kevin Hughes, then 16, had been arrested in neighboring Omaha, Neb., on a car theft charge. He said he was told he would be charged with Schweer’s slaying if he didn’t come up with the real killer, according to court records.

The lawsuits allege that authorities crafted a case "by editing Hughes’s story to eliminate the lies that were demonstrably false and by providing him with details of the crime to make him seem more credible."

The other teens agreed to back up Hughes’ story.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed Harrington’s conviction in 2003 after concluding that the withheld evidence could have caused a different outcome in his trial. The prosecution nonetheless tried to keep Harrington in prison, prompting Gov. Tom Vilsack to give Harrington a reprieve. Now Harrington works as a truck driver as he tries to rebuild his life.

J. Douglas McCalla, an attorney in the Wyoming law firm of Gerry Spence, said he is helping Harrington to right a wrong [by representing him in the lawsuit].

A quarter century in prison is a huge wrong to right. The cases are scheduled for trial in 2007.

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    Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 01:31:09 AM EST
    bOO HOO SO THE 2 BLACKS GOT SENT TO JAIL. They may have been innocent on this but im sure they were quilty of something else! at least in jail they didnt rob or kill anyone.

    Re: Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 04:27:38 PM EST
    Please delete this and fartknocker's post.

    Re: Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction (none / 0) (#1)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:54 PM EST
    If this one is for real the black guys who did time for no crime need 50 million to pay for the hell each one was in, and the judge needs to end his or her life into a cell.

    Re: Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction (none / 0) (#2)
    by Joe Bob on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:55 PM EST
    How about this idea for restorative justice: If you are found to have falsely and maliciously participated in the prosecution of someone you know to be innocent: you serve the full sentence you sent the innocent to jail for.

    Re: Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:56 PM EST
    (What steps can I take to make sure that I actually stay signed into TypeKey for two weeks, and that my email address stays shared?) There will be the typical apologists that sally to the defense of theprosecution on this one... Too bad. The state screwed up in this one, they need to pay. Period. Whattya say?

    Re: Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:56 PM EST
    Is this Lyle W. Brown the same Lyle Brown who went on to become an internal affairs investigator for the Council Bluffs Police Department? Like others have posted, it looks like a lot of compensation is owed the two framed individuals. They were just 17-year-old kids, their whole lives before them, back in 1977.

    Lawsuit Filed Over Wrongful Conviction | 6 comments (6 topical)