Wrongly convicted Cleveland man awarded $1.6 million, city agrees to review over 100 other convictions

Jet, June 28, 2004

Wrongly convicted Michael Green--recently released from an Ohio prison after 13 years of imprisonment--was awarded $1.6 million by the city of Cleveland as well as a promise to review over 100 other possibly wrongful convictions.

The city will allow an independent audit of cases dating to 1987, handled by its crime laboratory as part of the settlement in Green's lawsuit against the city.

Green said he wants to be a model for others who should not give up hope.

"This is not about me anymore," he said. "It's about those who are still incarcerated and those paroled who have given up hope about proving their innocence."

Green, 38, of Cleveland, was released from prison after DNA tests on a washrag--which the rapist used to wipe himself after attacking a Cleveland Clinic patient in 1988-proved he was innocent.

Lewis Katz, a criminal law professor at Case Western Reserve University, said most law enforcement officials are afraid to admit mistakes and re-examine old cases. He called the city's decision honorable.

"They had a real flawed lab producing testimony. I'm glad they've made it part of the settlement," Katz said.

"You just don't see municipalities entering into these kinds of agreements," said Barry Scheck, cofounder of the Innocence Project in New York City, which used DNA evidence to free Green from prison in 2001. "They usually have to be dragged kicking and screaming if it happens at all."

The methodology that lab technician Joseph Serowik used in Green's case was inappropriate, city Law Director Subodh Chandra said

"The city does agree that the forensic examiner engaged in bad science," Chandra said.

The city placed Serowik and his supervisor, Victor Kovacic, on unpaid leave to protect the integrity of the audit and determine whether disciplinary action must be taken, Mayor Jane Campbell said.

The cases to be reviewed include 100 cases in which Serowik testified or did hair analysis. The audit also will include a random sampling of other cases.

"We have taken the steps to fix it," Campbell said of problems with the crime lab.