Article content

DETROIT — A man has been released from prison 22 years after Detroit-area prosecutors acknowledged his murder conviction was tainted by key testimony from a rogue police officer who turned out to be a serial bank robber.

“It doesn’t surprise me too much anymore, but this did,” said Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy. “I have never seen anything like this in my decades of being a judge and prosecutor.”

Article content

LaVone Hill was sentenced to life in prison following his conviction for fatally shooting two people in 2002.

Investigators obtained a signed statement from a man who said he witnessed the shooting. However, he recanted his statement at the hearing and said that he was forced by the police.

The jury also heard from Detroit police Sgt. Walter Bates, who denies pressuring the witness. The jury apparently believed the officer and pronounced Hill guilty.

But Worthy said jurors and Hill’s attorney did not know Bates had been suspended at the time he testified. Bates was later convicted in federal court of committing the bank robbery.

“I can’t say whether Hill is guilty of this crime or not,” Worthy said. “I can say this with certainty: Former Sgt. Bates’s testimony at Mr. Hill’s trial was a crucial part of his case. “No one at trial – not the assistant prosecutor, not the defense attorney, nor the judge – was made aware of Bates’ massive and ongoing criminal behavior before, during, and after the investigation and trial.”

Bates declined to comment when reached by the Detroit News.

Hill, who has repeatedly declared his innocence, was released from prison on Wednesday. He was represented by the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan law school, which raised other issues in the case. The clinic said the victims were shot with a rifle, not a handgun, as the jury was told.

“I wasn’t even there when this crime occurred,” Hill told the judge. “I spent almost 23 years in prison for the abuses of the Detroit Police Department.”

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video failed to load.

Play Video

Share this article on your social network