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A Santa Monica man wrongfully convicted of child rape and several other charges back in 1988, has been granted permission to sue the City of Long Beach and a police officer, according tothe Associated Press.
In March of 1988, Leonard McSherry was charged and convicted with the rape, oral copulation, digital penetration, and kidnapping of a six-year old girl. The victim positively identified McSherry as her alleged attacker, both in a photo line-up and a live line-up. Her four-year old brother picked him out from photos, but not from the live line up. The victim, according to the investigating officer, identified McSherry's grandmother's house as the place where she'd been taken and gave accurate descriptions of the interior. This circumstantial evidence was enough to earn McSherry a 48 year sentence.
He sought a re-trial in 1992, based on new advances in DNA testing. Denied the right, his lawyer continued to press for a new trial. Finally in 2001--13 years after he'd been imprisoned--the DNA testing came back negative. McSherry, in fact, was not the rapist. He was exonerated and in 2002, filed suit against the City of Long Beach, the police officer in charge of his investigation, and the police officer's supervisor. U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner denied the suit twice. Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over-turned the lower court's decision, granting McSherry the right to sue the City and the police officer.
Officer Norman Turley is accused of having fabricated evidence in the case. McSherry was granted restitution of $500,000 by the City of Long Beach for the time spent behind bars, but this does not begin to cover the damages he feels he had to endure.
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