Walter Swift and his legal team made their way into federal court Friday, seeking justice for a man denied his freedom for 26 years. Swift spent more than two decades in prison for a crime he didnt commit. His attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Detroit four years ago but the legal battle stalled when the city filed for bankruptcy. He could win millions if the case goes forward. FOX 2 checks in to see whats next with the citys bankruptcy over. Its not just about money, Swift said. Its about holding these people accountable for this type of behavior - this type of willful, intentional and malicious prosecution of people they know are innocent. Thats what happened to Swift in 1982, when a pregnant woman playing with her small child inside her Detroit home was raped. Detroit police investigated and knew he wasnt the rapist - but arrested him anyway. The officer said to the sergeant, You know he didnt do this, said attorney Julie Hurwitz. And the sergeant said, He may not have committed this crime but Im sure he committed some other horrible crime. Were going with it. Swift was convicted, ripped taken from his fiance and his little daughter. It wasnt until the Innocence Project got involved, that he was finally freed from prison in 2008. Since 2010 hes been fighting the city for the only compensation that could be considered - millions in damages. But bankruptcy left his case in limbo until now. Swift and his legal team were summoned to federal court Friday - ordered into mandatory facilitation. Judge Steven Rhodes ruled the city is protected in the bankruptcy, but not the individual police officers named in this case. We disagree with the part of his ruling which allowed the city to continue to be protected, Hurwitz said. But the extent to which we now know these individual officers must be held accountable for what they did to Walter. These kinds of cases are different they have to be adjudicated outside of bankruptcy, said Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project. And were really open to trying to resolve this so that Walter and everybody else can move on with their lives. Swift would like to move on, and fight for others wrongfully convicted. It affects countless, hundreds even thousands of men, woman and children who are wrongfully incarcerated across this nation, Swift said. Its time for the city to begin to take Walters case as seriously as it deserves to be taken, Hurwitz said. Swifts attorneys say juries throughout the country, on average, have been awarding wrongfully convicted people like him, damages of a million dollars a year for each year of wrongful incarceration. I think the city really has to take this seriously now because if they dont, Im sure a jury will, Scheck said.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 13:43:11 +0000
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