Wrongly imprisoned brothers sue detectives and Cleveland

Associated Press in Cleveland
Thursday 2 July 2015 21.42 BST

Police detectives threatened a 12-year-old witness to make him offer false testimony in a murder case and fabricated statements by him, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by two brothers who spent decades in prison for a crime they didn’t commit.

The lawsuit, naming several living and deceased Cleveland police detectives and the city, also alleges it was common practice for detectives not to turn over notes, including witness statements, during investigations.

“As a matter of practice, such memos and notes were destroyed after the creation of typewritten official reports that were placed into an investigation file,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint was filed by Wiley Bridgeman and Ronnie Bridgeman, who now goes by Kwame Ajamu. The brothers were among three men convicted on the testimony of witness Eddie Vernon, now in his 50s.

Wiley Bridgeman spent more than 37 years in prison, while Ajamu spent about 25.

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