An ongoing pre-trial legal fight resumes today in the case of a Detroit man who was 14 when he was convicted and sentenced to up to 90 years in prison for the murder of four people. A Federal Court Judge says the conviction of Davontae Sanford was based on a series of lies by 2 Detroit police officers:
Sanford was 14 when he was arrested in September of 2007.
Based strongly on the testimony of former Detroit Police Commissioner James Tolbert and homicide Detective Michael Russell, he was convicted.
In June of 2016, after Sanford had been in prison for 9 years, the Wayne County Prosecutors office dropped the charges against him after a Michigan State Police investigation determined
the two officers had lied.
Attorneys for Sanford filed suit in 2017 against the two officers.
Last month Detroit Federal Court Judge David Lawson denied Detroit’s motion to have the complaint dismissed
He is scheduled to rule today on 30 more motions in the case.