Cleveland.com: Men imprisoned since 2006 get new trial after Cleveland police officers contradict fellow officers’ testimony
March 22, 2021
An appeals court granted a new trial for two men who spent the last 14 years in prison for the shooting of two people and the attempted shooting of a Cleveland police officer. The unanimous decision issued by the 8th District Court of Appeals found that Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County prosecutors denied Kenny Phillips and Michael Sutton a fair trial by failing to tell the men’s defense attorneys that officers gave conflicting statements about the shootings, and not calling them testify at trial. The Ohio Innocence Project represents Sutton. Mark Godsey, director of the Cincinnati-based Ohio Innocence Project, said that attorneys for the men would ask the courts to release the men on bond immediately pending their new trial.