CHICAGO– A Chicago man convicted of murder, based in part on the testimony of a legally blind eyewitness, is suing the city and police.
A judge convicted Darien Harris in 2014 for a fatal shooting at a South Side gas station in 2011. He was serving a 12-year prison sentence and 76 years in prison when he was released in December after the draft d The exoneration showed that the eyewitness suffered from advanced glaucoma. and lied about his vision problems. Harris was 30 when he was released.
Harris filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in April, alleging that police fabricated evidence and coerced witnesses into making false statements, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. He told the newspaper he was still struggling to rebuild his life.
“I don’t have any financial help. I’m still (treated like) a criminal, so I can’t get a good job. It’s difficult for me to get into school,” he said. “I was so lost. … I feel like they took a piece of me that’s hard for me to get back.
A message The Associated Press left on the city Law Department’s main line Monday seeking comment was not immediately returned. The department provides lawyers for the city, its services and its employees.
Harris was an 18-year-old high school student when he was arrested. The legally blind eyewitness picked Harris out of a police lineup and identified him in court. The eyewitness said he was riding his motorized scooter near the gas station when he heard gunshots and saw a person pointing a handgun. He also added that the shooter hit him.
Harris’ attorney asked the witness if his diabetes affected his vision. He said yes but denied having vision problems. But the man’s doctor had ruled him legally blind nine years before the incident, according to court records.
A gas station attendant also said Harris was not the shooter.
The waiver project has removed more than 200 people since 2009, including a dozen in Chicago’s Cook County in 2023 alone.
ABC News
