After 12 years in prison, freed man sues city and Chicago police – Chicago Tribune

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A recently freed man who spent more than 12 years in prison for a fatal South Side shooting in which a legally blind witness identified him as the perpetrator is suing the city of Chicago and several police officers over their handling of the murder investigation.

Darien Harris was an 18-year-old Chicago high school senior with a clean criminal record when police arrested him as a suspect in an ambush-style attack at a gas station that left one man dead and another seriously injured in 2011. In 2014, a judge convicted Harris of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm.

But after serving more than 12 years of a 76-year prison term, Harris won his release in December when a judge vacated the convictions and prosecutors dropped all charges.

Now, the 31-year-old is seeking compensation in a federal civil rights lawsuit that alleges authorities framed him despite evidence of his innocence.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Christy Gutowski.

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