A man who had spent 24 years seven months and 20 days behind bars in New York before having his conviction vacated in April is now in the beginning stages of suing the city of New York for $162 million.

It was in 1989 that Jonathan Fleming, now 51-years-old, was convicted of the killing his friend 22-year-old Darryl Rush. But, Fleming always maintained that he was in Disneyworld in Florida at the time of the killing. But, in a very quick trial, he was convicted of the murder despite having evidence such as plane tickets, videos and additional evidence such as phone records. 

The prosecution convinced the court at trial that Fleming had more than enough time to fly to New York from Florida, commit the crime and fly back to Florida. The prosecution also produced an eye witness to the killing that pointed a finger at Fleming.

But, the eyewitness would later come forward a short time later and admit that she had fabricated the story in order to cut a deal on a grand larceny rap. She had said that the police had talked her into making the false statement to avoid going back to jail after being caught in a stolen van that night. She was on probation at the time.

Additionally, Fleming had told his attorneys that he had paid for his phone calls from the night before at the hotel and that he believed that the receipt for that was in his pocket at the time of his arrest. But, the police stated that no such item was on his person.

Years later, that receipt was found in evidence time-stamped and dated showing that Fleming was in fact in Florida at the time of the murder in Brooklyn.  Another piece of evidence found was a police report from interviews of hotel workers who stated that Fleming was seen at the Florida hotel at the time of the murder in New York

The defense would even find the driver of the getaway vehicle used after the murder. That man even identified the real killer.

Fleming has been seeking employment since he was released from prison and a crowd-funding campaign recently raised $50,000 for him.

People who have been wrongly convicted of crimes can pursue civil rights suits.

  conviction, darryl rush, imprisonment, jonathan fleming, law suit, murder, nation, National, new york, prison, release, wrongful