By Martin Magnusson. Mr. Magnusson is an associate at Day Pitney LLP.
In 1978, two young African-American men, Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee, were convicted of the murder of a retired police officer. Their conviction hinged almost entirely on the uncorroborated testimony of one man: Kevin Hughes.
After spend
ing twenty-three years in prison, Mr. Harrington filed a post-conviction relief petition in Iowa state court, arguing that the county attorney who had prosecuted him had failed to disclose exculpatory evidence that pointed to an alternate suspect: the white brother-in-law of a local fire-department captain.
Ultimately, the Iowa Supreme Court vacated Mr. Harrington's conviction. Shortly thereafter, Mr. McGhee entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to a lesser crime in exchange for time served.
Two years later, Mr. Harrington and Mr. McGhee sued the county attorney and assistant county attorney who had prosecuted them. They alleged that the county attorney acted under tremendous political pressure:
Petitioner David Richter was the Pottawattamie County Attorney at the time. Richter had been appointed County Attorney in 1976 and was to face the voters for the first time in 1978. Richter confronted the daunting prospect of campaigning in the face of [the slain police officer's] unsolved murder.
They also alleged that the county attorney and his assistant took an active role in the investigation:
Contemporaneous police reports confirm that Richter and Assistant County Attorney Joseph Hrvol actively participated in the murder investigation from its earliest stages, interviewing witnesses and doing ordinary police work.