MI - Jeff Titus, 71, freed after 2 decades in prison for wrongful murder conviction - 2/25/23

[Bishop Black]

Innocent Man Freed After 2 Decades in Prison Thanks to True Crime Coverage of His Case

A 71-year-old Michigan man who spent spent 21 years in prison for the murder of two men in 1990 has been released after his conviction was overturned

people.com

A 71-year-old Michigan man who spent more than two decades in prison for the murder of two men in 1990 has been released by an overturned conviction.

The cleared charge, issued by U.S. Federal District Court Judge Paul D. Borma, came after a true-crime series and podcast both uncovered legal violations in the innocent man's case. Titus walked free from Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Mich. this week.

"It's been 22 years waiting for this day, and it should've never happened in the first place," he told local station WOOD TV. "I'm just over [ecstatic] and overjoyed to finally be out, where I can get out and do something. I want to see my grandkids, I haven't seen them, I want to see them."

 

[imstilla.grandma]

This image provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections shows Jeff Titus. The state of Michigan asked a judge Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, to immediately release Titus, who has served nearly 21 years in prison for killing two hunters, saying evidence about an Ohio serial killer's possible role was never disclosed to the defense before trial.
It's an extraordinary turnaround for Titus, whose claim of innocence has been led for years by the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school.

Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were fatally shot near Titus’ rural property in 1990, though he wasn't charged until more than a decade later.

Authorities at the time had acknowledged that Titus was hunting in another county on the day of the shootings. But they insisted that he still drove home in time to kill the men as trespassers.

In 2019, the attorney general's conviction integrity unit agreed to look at Titus' case after he lost a string of appeals in state courts.

Michigan asks judge to release man in slayings of 2 hunters

The state of Michigan is asking a judge to release a man who has served nearly 21 years of...

www.middletownpress.com

 

[?!?]

This image provided by the Michigan Department of Corrections shows Jeff Titus. The state of Michigan asked a judge Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, to immediately release Titus, who has served nearly 21 years in prison for killing two hunters, saying evidence about an Ohio serial killer's possible role was never disclosed to the defense before trial.
It's an extraordinary turnaround for Titus, whose claim of innocence has been led for years by the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school.

Doug Estes and Jim Bennett were fatally shot near Titus’ rural property in 1990, though he wasn't charged until more than a decade later.

Authorities at the time had acknowledged that Titus was hunting in another county on the day of the shootings. But they insisted that he still drove home in time to kill the men as trespassers.

In 2019, the attorney general's conviction integrity unit agreed to look at Titus' case after he lost a string of appeals in state courts.

Michigan asks judge to release man in slayings of 2 hunters

The state of Michigan is asking a judge to release a man who has served nearly 21 years of...

www.middletownpress.com

When will there be charges against the prosecutors who railroaded him?

 

[Helechawagirl]

When will there be charges against the prosecutors who railroaded him?

Good question. Sometimes, it seems as if they do not want to release someone even after they are proven innocent (dna) etc. he’s lost 20 years of his life. May get a settlement; hope he doesn’t end up in years of litigation.

 

[neesaki]

When will there be charges against the prosecutors who railroaded him?

Good question! It seems that crooked prosecutors are too often allowed to get away with ruining the lives of innocent people. They should go to prison for withholding evidence, IMO.

 

[?!?]

Good question! It seems that crooked prosecutors are too often allowed to get away with ruining the lives of innocent people. They should go to prison for withholding evidence, IMO.

From 2017:

Titus case: Ex-wife married case investigator

The man convicted of killing two hunters said he wonders how hard his defense team’s private investigator worked to keep him out of prison.

www.woodtv.com

 

[?!?]

Michigan Innocence Clinic Client Jeff Titus Exonerated | University of Michigan Law School

Earlier this week, Michigan Innocence Clinic client Jeff Titus was exonerated and released after 21 years of wrongful imprisonment.

michigan.law.umich.edu

 

[?!?]

Jeff Titus spent 22 years in prison. He celebrated the fresh taste of freedom with family and a Sweetwater’s doughnut

Jeff Titus spent nearly 22 years in prison after he was convicted of a double murder he didn't commit, his attorney said.

www.mlive.com

"undisclosed evidence shows convicted serial killer Dillon confessed to the murders to a cellmate who told the FBI, but that information was not given to the prosecutor’s office or defense."

 

[?!?]

Widow ‘glad’ man released 21 years after murder conviction

The widow of one of two hunters shot and killed in Kalamazoo County in 1990 agrees with the release of the man convicted of those murders, saying she was skeptical of the guilty verdict when it hap…

www.woodtv.com

 

[FrostedGlass]

Good question! It seems that crooked prosecutors are too often allowed to get away with ruining the lives of innocent people. They should go to prison for withholding evidence, IMO.

I'd like to see them stand trial and, if found guilty, be sentenced to the same amount of years the wrongfully accused served AND lose their license to ever practice law again.

 

[FrostedGlass]

The National Registry of Exonerations - Exoneration Registry

www.law.umich.edu

 

[neesaki]

I'd like to see them stand trial and, if found guilty, be sentenced to the same amount of years the wrongfully accused served AND lose their license to ever practice law again.

I’m 100% on board with that!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The 30-page file, created by one of the original detectives in the November 1990 murders of Doug Estes and Jim Bennett, focused on an alternate suspect, a serial killer who hunted down men in Ohio. Kalamazoo County cold case detectives who picked up the investigation years later say they never saw that file and have said they knew nothing about the alternate suspect.

But a Target 8 investigation shows the cold case team was aware of the Ohio suspect before Titus’s conviction and did nothing to look into him.

The cold case detectives whose work led to Titus’s conviction, Sgt. Mike Werkema and Mike Brown, were asked directly about the alternative suspect in a recent Investigation Discovery documentary, “The Hunted.”

“Did you know about the serial killer? That there was a guy who was a serial killer who had been looked at?” the producer asked Werkema.

“No, I did not,” Werkema said. “No, I mean, this is interesting.”

Records in Jeff Titus case: Cold case team knew of alternate suspect

The recent release of Jeff Titus from prison 21 years after his wrongful conviction in a double murder was based on a single file labeled “serial killer” that a judge ruled was kept fro…

www.woodtv.com

 

[FrostedGlass]

Almost 21 years of his life spent in prison while the killer went free.

After reviewing the case for three months, Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting said Titus will not face a new trial.
“This is the right thing to do,” Getting told reporters.
...
There was no physical evidence against Titus. Prosecutors portrayed him as a hothead who didn’t like trespassers.

Charges dropped against man who served 21 years in prison for deaths of 2 Michigan hunters

DETROIT (AP) — Prosecutors dropped murder charges Thursday against a man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for the fatal shooting of two Michigan hunters. Jeff Titus was released from prison in February when authorities acknowledged that critical information about another suspect — an Ohio...

www.wishtv.com

 

[?!?]

IMO, one mil is not enough -- lawyers will take at least 30% -- should be at least five....

Man cleared in hunters’ killings after 21 years in prison seeks $1M from Michigan

DETROIT (AP) — A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for the deaths of two Michigan hunters filed a lawsuit Friday seeking $1.02 million for wrongful convictions, just a day after a prosecutor …

myfox8.com

 

[FrostedGlass]

IMO, one mil is not enough -- lawyers will take at least 30% -- should be at least five....

Man cleared in hunters’ killings after 21 years in prison seeks $1M from Michigan

DETROIT (AP) — A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for the deaths of two Michigan hunters filed a lawsuit Friday seeking $1.02 million for wrongful convictions, just a day after a prosecutor …

myfox8.com

I totally agree with you. From your article:
"Under Michigan law, someone who is wrongly convicted can be eligible to receive $50,000 for each year in prison."

Would that have even covered his lost wages? What about the rest of his life that was stolen from him?