A man who was released from prison in December has filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago for false imprisonment for 12 years.
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Darien Harris served 12 years of a 76-year sentence after he was falsely identified in a police lineup for a fatal shooting at a local gas station in 2011 at the age of 18. He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to what would effectively be a life sentence but it was later revealed that the key witness who identified Harris was legally blind.
According to TOO FAB, the key witness claimed he was on his motorized scooter when he heard gunshots. He testified that he saw the shooter and repeatedly identified Harris as the perpetrator during the legal proceedings. Despite his insistence, a gas station attendant testified that Harris was not the shooter. Harris’s release was expedited by the Exoneration Project, A Chicago-based organization dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions.
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The organization has helped over 200 individuals since its launch in 2009 and in December 2023, they secured in proving Harris was innocent by proving that the eyewitness had lied about his eyesight and was legally blind when he claimed to have seen Harris commit the crime and identify him in court.
During the trial, his attorney questioned the witness about his vision problems due to diabetes, which the witness denied. However, the Exoneration Project unveiled court record showing the witness’s doctor had declared him legally blind with advanced glaucoma nine years before the line up. Now 31, Harris has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and its police department, alleging that police fabricated evidence and coerced witnesses into making false statements. He says he is struggling to find his place in society after spending most of his adult life in prison.