Trial News

In 1995, Clifton Hudson was fatally shot in East Cleveland, Ohio. Eugene Johnson, Laurese Glover, and Derrick Wheatt witnessed the murder, along with Tamika Harris, 14. Harris later told police that she did not see the shooter’s face but could identify the style of jacket the killer had worn. Johnson, Glover, and Wheatt were later arrested, convicted of the murder, and sentenced to prison. After the trial, Harris recanted and worked with the Ohio Innocence Project to win the release of Johnson, Glover, and Wheatt. The men were released from prison in 2015.

They sued the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and two East Cleveland detectives, alleging wrongful conviction and denial of access to the courts. The plaintiffs claimed that exculpatory police reports were hidden in the case until 2013 and that the detectives had manipulated Harris by using an unduly suggestive photo array, which led to the erroneous identification of Johnson as the shooter.

The plaintiffs settled with the prosecutor’s office for $4.5 million. The jury awarded $15 million against the detectives.

Citation: Wheatt v. City of East Cleveland, No. 1:17-cv-00377-JG (N.D. Ohio Nov. 15, 2018).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Michael B. Pasternak, Cleveland; Brett Murner, Wellington, Ohio; Elizabeth Wang, Boulder, Colo.; and Mark Loevy-Reyes, Chicago.