‘He was sentenced to 67 years in prison for a crime that was not even committed by anyone’
A US man has been released from prison after serving 21 years for a reported home invasion and robbery that may have never happened.
Ralph Blaine Smith, who was jailed for the supposed crime in 2000, will receive $1.3 million from the state of Ohio as compensation. The amount will be split with his lawyers, who in December filed a wrongful imprisonment claim against the state in the Ohio Court of Claims, USA Today reported.
The payment was approved by the Ohio Controlling Board on Monday.
Smith told USA Today that the settlement will allow him to take care of his family who “helped me a lot” during his incarceration.
“I’d like to make things a little easier on them,” he told the publication.
Smith was accused of being one of two Black men to force their way into a Lancaster home, occupied by a man and a woman and their young children, on 2 February 2000.
The adults told police the intruders forced one of them to open a safe, from which they stole rare comic books and approximately $10,000.
USA Today reported that the prosecution’s case hinged entirely on the complainants identifying Smith from a photo array, as there was no other evidence linking Smith to the supposed crime, and no one else was charged.
In June 2001, Smith was granted a new trial, with Fairfield County Common Pleas Judge Richard E. Berens ruling that prosecutors had withheld evidence that suggested the crime never occurred.
All charges were later dropped against Smith.
Smith’s lawyer, Joseph Landusky, told Local 12: “He (Smith) was sentenced to 67 years in prison for a crime that was not even committed by anyone.”
He continued: “When first responders showed up (at the supposed crime scene), there were no footprints in the snow. It had recently snowed.
“There was a dog barking right next door when they pulled up, the neighbours said no dog had barked in the last hour.
“There were no tire tracks, so it made sense to the investigating officers that this didn’t even happen.
“When they went in and checked the house out, they wrote in their report that it was too selective for them.”
He added: “These are written in these reports. These reports were not given to the defence lawyer.”
Smith is now pursuing a federal lawsuit against the Pickerington police detective who investigated his case, the city of Pickerington and Fairfield County, depositions for which are said to be ongoing.
Related links:
- Man who wrongly spent 25 years on death row is shot and killed after being released
- Man wrongly jailed for 30 years dies just months after being freed
- The reason you should never smile in a custody mug shot
- Man downs cup of bleach in courtroom after armed robbery verdict is read
