Ohio teen cleared of twin's death plans to sue

[VC2]

another case of sloppy police work and tunnel vision that cost someone their freedom alvbeit only 2 years in this case.."only' is compared to 23.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32334560/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

What is staggering is this part:
Police said Friday that they presumed from the beginning that a palm print found at the scene was covered in blood.

The location of the print on a blood-covered wall and the print's reaction to a crime analysis chemical made them believe the print itself was bloody, said Cmdr. Mary Mathias and Lt. Tom Fischer.

Prosecutors proposed testing the palm print for blood after police crime scene investigators gave conflicting evidence at trial over the location of the print and whether it was near a smear of blood

unbelievable. This child was not convicted because of pure LUCK. A juror couldn't continue due to illness and the alternates had been dismissed so a mistrial was ordered. If they had convicted him, i don't think the cops would have bothered testing the print at all IMO

[R~O~S]

Timeline for the case:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/08/06/atwintimeline.html

Jan. 16, 2009: The Dispatch reports that police believe Derris Lewis acted alone in the slaying of his brother. He is expected to go to trial on March 9, 2009.

Feb. 13, 2009: A "notice of alibi" is filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court which states that three witnesses will vouch that Derris Lewis was 6 miles away at the time of the crime.

The defense begins their case with Derris' girlfriend, Kristian Holloway, who testifies that Derris was asleep beside her when police say he committed the crime.


If there were 5 intruders, how did they determine Derris acted alone?

This has got to be the worst case of tunnel vision I've ever heard of, they have four witnesses other than the family saying Derris was asleep 6 miles away, the one witness to the crime itself says 5 people were involved, but LE claims Derris acted alone.

In conflict with everything they're being told by witnesses, they have one palm print they claim is bloody, but they don't bother testing it before going to trial?

It defies reason, Derris needs to file that suit and I hope he and his mother are awarded enough money that never have to step foot in that "bad neighborhood" again. The most dangerous element there is the police force.

ETA: I have faith the jury wouldn't have convicted him based on the alibi witnesses, but I can't even believe it even got to trial. & when Derris was found not guilty they would have stood on the courthouse steps claiming the jury got it wrong, no need to investigate further.

[R~O~S]

The Police are not "the most dangerous element" of Columbus, Sir/Madame.:rolleyes:

They are when they ignore all evidence, disregard all witnesses, and don't bother to even test the one piece of evidence they're using for trial while imprisoning an innocent man for 18 months.

They put an innocent child in jail for 18 month, accused him of killing his own brother, and ignored the witness testimony of 5 people.

If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, you're delusional. These are the people we authorize to take your life & liberty when warranted, and we trust they'll actually take that responsibility seriously. I have enough evidence in this one case to support the accusation they don't give a dang as long as they can close the case without expending any effort. No wonder the area is considered a "bad neighborhood", it's not worth their time.

How kind of them to waste your tax dollars on their avoidance of the facts.

[R~O~S]

Baloney. I have worked in Columbus daily for over 20 years. I think your accusations about the CPD are totally unsupportable, just another armchair theory from someone who sounds very angry and anti-police.
IMO

There's nothing theory about it I'm afraid. The facts of the case are clear and supported by trial tesitmony to date.

Four witnesses put Derris six miles away at the time of the crime. A notice of alibi was filed, the police and prosecution ignored the witnesses.

The mother, a victim of the crime, stated there were 5 intruders. The police, and prosecution ignored this statement and claimed Darris acted alone.

The one piece of evidence they claimed linked Darris to the crime, what they claimed was a palm print in blood. They never bothered to test it, it was not blood. Being the only piece of evidence in conflict with all testimony, Derris has been cleared.

What investigation was conducted? On what did they discard the witness statements?

Please explain how you can support this behavior and waste of your tax dollars? This is very specific and fact based, not theory.

I anxiously await all the "facts" allowing you to support this prosecution. It really does need to be a bit better then "I've worked in Columbus 20 years" or Columbus and your tax dollars are gonna finance a decent life for both Darris and his mom when it all comes out in the wash.

& then there's the investigation into a murder they never bothered to conduct, that they'll now at least have to pretend to invest some resources in, since their only evidence turned out to be pure fabrication.

[R~O~S]

I think there should be compensation for his time spent in jail, but certainly not 'financing a decent life for he and his mom'.
Where did you get your idea that I supported this prosecution? It's the police that I support, they are doing a very good job while being understaffed and underpaid.
IMO


They're understaffed and underpaid are they? Well that explains the total lack of investigation and abusive prosecution. Toss the first person available in jail, that's the ticket, especially if he's black & poor, not much chance they'll have the means to afford a decent attorney to fight the charges.

Be danged the facts he's an honor society student with absolutely no criminal record and has witnesses putting him six miles away at the time and an entire school system worth of character witnesses.

Yes, putting innocent people in jail while ignoring all evidence is "a very good job" indeed. :scared:

Tell me, how are you going to "compensate" for the educational opportunities he's lost & the fact that for the remainder of his life when asked if he's ever been charged with a criminal offense on a job or school application his response will have to be the yes box with comment that it was only a murder charge?

[VC2]

They're understaffed and underpaid are they? Well that explains the total lack of investigation and abusive prosecution. Toss the first person available in jail, that's the ticket, especially if he's black & poor, not much chance they'll have the means to afford a decent attorney to fight the charges.

Be danged the facts he's an honor society student with absolutely no criminal record and has witnesses putting him six miles away at the time and an entire school system worth of character witnesses.

Yes, putting innocent people in jail while ignoring all evidence is "a very good job" indeed. :scared:

Tell me, how are you going to "compensate" for the educational opportunities he's lost & the fact that for the remainder of his life when asked if he's ever been charged with a criminal offense on a job or school application his response will have to be the yes box with comment that it was only a murder charge?

BRAVO!!! I am baffled that anyone is suggesting this is good police work let alone prosecution. It is an outrage and they took 2 years of his life, based on zero evidence imo..2 years at an age where it makes a huge difference to the way a life progresses. (school, college etc) and added untold extra grief to the family in the middle of a terrible tragedy.

I have tremendous respect for LE as a whole but no respect whatsoever for any police officer involved who did not speak out, anyone in the crime lab or in the DA's office and think they need to lose their jobs, every one of them. Their job is to important, the fundamental right in the constitution is to life and LIBERTY. That anyone with the ability to take that away does so with no evidence and not even bothering to test what there is at the crime scene is just as serious as some nut kidnapping someone and the trauma is greater since it is a betrayal of public trust. Morally it is worse because IMO LE should be held to a higher standard, they actually have a legal duty to be careful.


IMO
I wish the laws allowed charging of any one involved in a wrongful prosecution and jail time.

IMO

[R~O~S]

You asked me a lot of questions, I just have one for you. Are you doing something about this???
FYI police make arrests, they do not prosecute crimes, officiate a trial, or sit on a jury.
IMO

Correct, they supposedly investigate, before sending the case to the prosecution. Both failed miserably at their jobs, and cost the taxpayers an awful lot of money, didn't they?

It's one thing to question someone. It's quite another to change them & it's beyond comprehension that any prosecutor would bring a case to trial without so much as a shred of evidence in light of all the testimony and witnesses contradicting the charge.

FYI, I'm quite active regarding such issues, thanks for asking.

[Marcia3]

Sounds reasonable to me. He shouldn't even have to ask for it, the apology should've been offered quite some time ago, IMO.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/08/07/story_lewis_apology.html?sid=102

From the link:

Derris was released from jail on Thursday, but he won't get those 18 months back, Hirsch reported.

"I lost my freedom and my education and those are the two most important things that I have as a person, as a citizen of these United States," Derris said.

[JazzyBell]

thsi is another trial in which I only saw a snippit of.

Can anyone tell me what was the outcome of the twin brother who was on trial for the murder of his twin?

Sorry for being vague. But when I only see 20 minutes of a trial I don't always catch the names of the Defendants and victims

[R~O~S]

Darris Lewis was cleared of all involvement in his brother Dennis Lewis' death.

There were 5 witnesses that put him miles away from the scene at the time of the murder.

The only evidence claimed by LE to link Darris to the murder was what they said was a bloody palmprint.

They never tested it, it wasn't blood.

They currently believe a drug dealer to be responsible but they kept Darris in jail for 18 months, he lost his senior year of high school and a college scholarship because they didn't bother doing their job before taking a 17 year olds liberty and ignored the evidence that made it impossible for him to be the murderer.

There's already a thread with the links to all the stories here somewhere. A search using the names should bring it up.

ETA: Found it, here ya go:

http://boards.insessiontrials.com/showthread.php?t=356947

[ksk1]

This case was unbelievable. I have to admit I normally lean towards guilty and I am most often on the side of the prosecution, if there is enough evidence, but while watching this case I kept thinking of how often we hear of DA's who will refuse a case saying "not enough evidence" but the DA in Ohio accepted this case? Unbelievable. They should all be so ashamed of the "job" they performed and the complete disservice to this family and the community. The lack of evidence of his guilt was overwhelming and so much more evidence of his not being there at all. I bet the real culprit thought it was hilarious! Where was the protection of the victim here? Here these were good kids, taking care of their mom, going to school, on their way to college and what did Derris get? Is the law still "innocent until proven guilty" still in affect? Just checking....