.
Ohio man wins $45 million in lawsuit after being wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years
LAURA A. BISCHOFF
November 22, 2022, 10:56 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio – An Ohio man won $45 million in a civil lawsuit against a police department and detective whose actions led to his wrongful conviction and more than 20 years behind bars.
Dean Gillispie sued Miami Township police and former detective Scott Moore for suppressing evidence and tainting eyewitness identifications in the 1991 rape and kidnapping case against Gillispie.
Gillispie was convicted in 1991 in Montgomery County and released from prison in 2011. The Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati law school, former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and Dean’s mother, Juana Gillispie, worked to free him and clear his name.
Today, Gillispie is 57, and lives in Fairborn, a suburb of Dayton.
“The horror inflicted on Dean and his family and community is hard to wrap your mind around,” Ohio Innocence Project Director Mark Godsey said. “The way the authorities pushed through a conviction and then fought back and refused to admit a mistake was so disappointing. Nothing can repay Dean for the horror.”
He added: “The jury’s verdict sends a strong message that those in power need to change the way they do things.”
“Justice prevailed in this case, although it took a long, long, long time for that to occur,” said Petro, who co-authored a book with his wife Nancy about wrongful convictions.
David Owens, whose firm Loevy & Loevy represents wrongfully convicted clients and represented Gillispie, said they believe $45 million sets an Ohio record.
It is unclear if Miami Township or Moore will seek to appeal the case or when Gillispie might receive payment.
Wrongful Convictions Blog 
My son has spent 3 years in Prison for a wrongful conviction and I am having a really hard time getting lawyers to help him, they keep dragging things out and raking my money! he has a wfe and 3 kids who need him. I think something shady is going on with the court and prosecutors in my son’s case. Any information you can give me to help my son would be great!
Carolyn Shustar,
Your son is not alone. It happened to me in ’92.
Let me guess, they didn’t need anything but testimony and no real evidence. Unfortunately, it’s a thing now.
I have just finished a draft of a letter to the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump precisely because of what they did to him in civil court of NY, based on hearsay alone. They (NY State Congress) altered the statute of limitations ( see CA v Stonger 539 US 607) to allow the lawfare against him and to prevent him from taking office again. Sex scandal is the oldest trick in the political book, literally!
The shady things you mentioned are real. It’s not a coincidence that a purveyor of database was the one funding the legal fees of the complainant against him.
No doubt your boy finds himself on a gov database as a result. Who else would benefit more from a lifetime of human involuntary servitude to database maintenance than they purveyors of databases themselves? It’s not so different than the purveyors of tobacco, cotton and sugarcane plantations of antebellum times. Except in modern times it is data plantations which act as a means of production.
It should also not be of surprise for you to know that it was the current Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court who wrote the errant but convincing argument in Smith V Doe 538 US 84, which set precedent regarding the states’ use of a database under the disguise of public safety. However, neither sides lawyers brought up the words contained in the 13th Amendment which define historical punishments in that case. In fact, the 13th is the only constitutional amendment which factually mentions historical punishment. Yet not a mention in either syllabus. This is how you know the “fix” was in with regard for the unfettered government uses of our Database Driven Infrastructure. To be sure the SOR database will be used to impose additional affirmative restraint and disability upon your boy.
Fact is, Justice John G. Roberts was appointed to the DC circuit by a former CIA man, in the form of George Bush 1, and later to the top seat on SCOTUS by George Bush 2. Quite handy, especially if you’re a purveyor of database to have secured the agenda setter seat on the highest court in the land. Economists of both the Keynes’s and Smith variety would identify that Epic rent seeking behavior. Why not reward unconstitutional behavior when it leads to so much payola and power? What if King George would have had the internet to secure his power?
Dear, thank you for updating us about “Dean Gillispie Wins $45 Million for Wrongful Conviction”. Author : lesson plans
There are tens of thousands just like this guy. I am one, except they only stole 1245 days from me in the early 90s. Are the people getting a “fair trial” or not?
To compound the problem State congress engaged is the use of retrospective language in law making upon certain crimes. A prosecutorial wet dream.
Has Mr. Gillespie received any portion of the judgement? It has been 6 months. It’s great for the blog to post or report such judgments, but much diminished if such payments aren’t enforced and made public.
Its been a while since your group has posted to the blog. What happened? I’ve read of at least three more exonerations and not a word? Have the fascists gotten your tongues?