A Springfield man who spent three years in prison for murder before he was acquitted in a second trial has filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In the complaint filed in state court Tuesday Charles Wilhite is seeking $500,000 for the damages caused by his wrongful conviction and lost liberty. Last January, Wilhite filed a federal civil rights complaint against two Springfield police detectives alleging they fabricated evidence and intimidated witnesses, according to Wilhite’s attorney Howard Friedman.
" The police officers really put their thumbs on the scales of justice."
Wilhite was convicted of murder in 2010 for the shooting of a man outside a small convenience store in Springfield in 2008. He was sentenced to life in prison. Two witnesses later recanted their testimony, a judge vacated the conviction and Wilhite was found not guilty at a second trial in January 2013.
