Greg Taylor, who spent 17 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, is suing five SBI employees who worked on his case.
He was exonerated in February 2010.
According to the complaint, Taylor, 49, is seeking compensatory damages for the time he served behind bars. One of the former employees named in the lawsuit is Duane Deaver. Deaver was fired from the SBI after he admitted he withheld blood evidence in Taylor’s murder trial.
Taylor seeks to recover compensatory damages under federal and state law from Deaver, Joseph Taub, Mark Nelson, Ralph Keaton and Harold Elliott in their individual capacities and defendants Deaver and Taub in their official capacities.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, notes that the “critical evidence against Taylor at trial” was the SBI lab report prepared by Deaver andTaub.
“Because of the deliberately misleading SBI Report, Taylor was convicted and imprisoned for Jacquetta Thomas’ murder in April 1993.”
Nelson supervised Deaver and Taub. The complaint states that Nelson knew Deaver, Taub and other agents frequently misrepresented blood tests. The complaint states that Keaton and Elliott, two other SBI employees, condoned the practice of misrepresenting blood tests.
The complaint states that, essentially, Deaver and Taub prepared an official report that showed the presence of blood connected to Taylor’s truck when in fact their tests had shown there was not the presence of blood.
Taylor had told police he spent the night using crack cocaine but denied he killed Thomas.
Deaver was suspended last fall and fired in January. He is appealing to get his job back.
Deaver testified at Taylor's innocence hearing that he did not give defense attorneys the results of a blood test that could have proven Taylor innocent.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement