Detroit Man, Sent To Prison As Teen, Sues City And Cops For Wrongful Conviction

DETROIT, MI—Imprisoned from the age of 14 to 23 on murder charges, a Detroit man has sued the city of Detroit and two of its police officers for a wrongfully accusing him. Davontae Sanford, who was released from prison last year after a Michigan State Police investigated exonerated him, said he became a suspect after talking with a police detective.

Sanford’s lawsuit names officer Michael Russell and former Detroit police commander James Tolbert, in addition to the city as defendants, according to a report from the Detroit News. Sanford claims that his confession to the quadruple homicide in 2007 was coerced from him by the officers and his defense attorney.

Shortly after Sanford went to prison, another man was arrested and confessed that he had been hired to kill 12 people, including those Sanford supposedly killed. That man, Vincent Smothers, is now in prison for murder, according to the report by the Detroit News.

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Because of his time in prison, Sanford has suffered mental anguish, emotional and physical issues, and “a loss of earnings and earning potential,” the article notes.

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