FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - A man whose conviction in the beating death of a 15-year-old boy was erased has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Fairbanks and four police officers.
Marvin Roberts on Thursday filed the suit that claims he was coerced into signing the agreement that dismissed his conviction and stipulated he could not sue, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported .
The suit claims Roberts was victimized by the criminal justice system, which will not hold the city accountable for depriving him of his basic civil rights.
Roberts and three other men spent nearly two decades imprisoned after they were convicted for the 1997 death of John Hartman.
The men, who maintained their innocence, signed a release-dismissal agreement with the state following a claim by another man that he and others were responsible for the death.
While waiting for a court ruling in the post-conviction relief case on the new evidence, the men signed the agreement that granted immediate release in 2015. Roberts was out on parole at the time.
The agreement erased their murder convictions in exchange for the men agreeing to withdraw claims of prosecutorial misconduct and not to sue the state, the city or others involved in the case.
“The settlement itself was a violation of civil rights. The state held the keys to the steel cage his three brothers were locked in,” said Michael Kramer, Roberts’ attorney. “The only way they were going to get out for Christmas, or maybe ever, was if Marvin signed that agreement.”
City spokeswoman Teal Soden said the city had yet to receive the paperwork regarding the suit, and she declined to comment on the case.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
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