TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – An East Texas man who was cleared of brutally murdering a woman in 1977 has filed a lawsuit seeking damages for his wrongful conviction and incarceration.

Kerry Max Cook of Tyler spent 47 years fighting the case, including 20 years on death row. His capital murder conviction was overturned in 2017.

“Days dragged into months, months into years, years into decades,” Cook said.

Cook said the feeling of being exonerated was indescribable.

“To be released by a Republican criminal appeals court to say that ‘not only was he wrongfully convicted, this man checks all the boxes for actual innocence.’ He is innocent. He was framed,’” Cook said.

On Thursday, Cook filed a lawsuit against the City of Tyler, Smith County and more than a dozen people involved in the case. People named in the lawsuit include police officers and sheriff’s deputies involved in the case.

He said he wanted those involved in the past to confess to what happened.

“If you are going to admit that I was framed for a murder that I did not commit, take this cup from me. Give me back my name, my family, and I’ll walk away. I don’t want anything. “I just want the truth,” Cook said.

He felt unacknowledged and has now filed a lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, investigators systematically ignored and concealed obvious evidence that implicated Linda Jo Edward’s disgruntled ex-boyfriend as a suspect in the rape and murder.

The lawsuit accuses them of diverting the investigation away from the suspect, concealing clues, fabricating fingerprint evidence and presenting false evidence of Cook’s confession to others.

“I want responsibility. I don’t just want compensation. I want responsibility. I promised my family that I would never give up until we cleared our names,” Cook said.

The lawsuit states that Cook is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees, and that he wants the civil case to be decided by a jury.

“I just want the truth. My fight today is for Linda Edwards. This is for me. This is for real. This is for you. For the people who have walked in my shoes before. I’m here for justice, accountability and truth. That’s the whole point. Cook said it’s not about the money.

Cook is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees, and wants the civil case to be decided by a jury.

To read the full copy of the amended complaint filed in the Kerry Max Cook case, Click here. Watch the full interview with Cook below.

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