Mr. McGuffin was exonerated in 2019 after a post-conviction court in Oregon held that the Oregon State Police lab violated Mr. McGuffin’s constitutional rights by failing to disclose exculpatory DNA evidence. Today, Mr. McGuffin filed a lawsuit in federal court for the violation of his civil rights.
Full Answer
What happened to Nick McGuffin?
Where Is Nick McGuffin Now? Once put on trial, Nick pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was acquitted of the murder charge by the jury. However, on a 10-2 majority, the jury did find Nick guilty of manslaughter. Based on his conviction, Nick was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2011.
When did Kevin McGuffin go to jail?
That decision came down in December 2019. McGuffin gave his first interview since his overturned conviction to ABC’s 20/20 to air on Friday, February 28, 2020. “I was facing life in prison for a crime I didn’t commit,” he told 20/20. The murder took place in Coquille Oregon in 2000. Here’s what you need to know:
Why is John McGuffin now a free man?
He’s now a recently free man because a judge ruled that old DNA evidence could have changed the verdict if the jurors had been allowed to hear it. KGW8 reported that a judge found that Oregon State Police “failed to reveal DNA evidence that would have exonerated” McGuffin at trial. That decision came down in December 2019.
What did Kevin McGuffin say on 20/20?
McGuffin gave his first interview since his overturned conviction to ABC’s 20/20 to air on Friday, February 28, 2020. “I was facing life in prison for a crime I didn’t commit,” he told 20/20.
Why was McGuffin arrested?
The lawsuit states that McGuffin was harassed and intimidated for years before his arrest by law enforcement. Court documents state that due to his wrongful conviction, he was forced to miss most of his daughter’s childhood. She was three years old when McGuffin was convicted.
What rights did McGuffin violate?
The lawsuit states the Oregon State Police, the cities of Coos Bay and Coquille, and other agencies and people violated McGuffin’s civil rights in a myriad of ways, including violating his 14th Amendment rights, failing to disclose exculpatory evidence and intentionally causing him emotional distress.
Who killed Leah Freeman?
Nicholas McGuffin was convicted of manslaughter in 2011, after being accused of killing his girlfriend, 15-year-old Leah Freeman, in 2000.
What lawsuit did McGuffin file against the police?
In July 2020, McGuffin filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against local and state police, alleging they hid and manufactured evidence against him.
Who is McGuffin's attorney?
His appeals were denied and in 2014, McGuffin sought help from the Oregon Innocence Project. His attorney there, Janis Puracal, filed a petition for post-conviction relief. Puracal subsequently left the project and formed the Forensic Justice Project. She continued investigating the case, along with John Comery, ...
Why did the judge fault McGuffin's trial defense lawyers?
The judge also faulted McGuffin’s trial defense lawyers for failing to investigate a police report of an interview with Nick Backman. Backman told police that he saw Freeman by herself about 9 p.m. near an ATM—about the same time that Lindegren claimed he saw McGuffin with Freeman in the area of the ATM.
What did Fedor say about the crime lab?
The judge said that Fedor had concluded that the crime lab “made errors and that the reliance on protocols or analyst discretion in 2001 is suspect.”. The judge also ruled that the prosecution had, in effect, failed to disclose that unidentified male DNA was found on Freeman’s shoes.
When was McGuffin arrested?
Following the testimony of scores of witnesses, McGuffin was indicted for first-degree murder. He was arrested on August 24, 2010. In July 2011, McGuffin went to trial in Coos County Circuit Court. A number of witnesses testified they saw McGuffin driving around looking for Freeman on the night she disappeared.
Where was the shoe found in the Coquille High School?
Freeman’s right shoe was found at about 11:30 p.m. on a street near a cemetery across the street from Coquille High School. The person who found it didn’t report the discovery to police until July 4—six days after Freeman was last seen.
Who was the witness who saw Freeman and McGuffin?
However, one witness, John Lindegren, testified that he saw McGuffin with Freeman at about 9 p.m.—two hours after McGuffin had said he dropped Freeman off at her girlfriend’s house. Kathy Wilcox, a DNA analyst from the Oregon State Police crime lab, testified that Freeman’s shoes had been examined and tested.
When did Nicholas McGuffin go to jail?
Nicholas McGuffin, second from right, his mother, and his attorneys Janis Puracal, Ryan O’Connor, and Andrew Lauersdorf, and investigator John Comery walking out of prison on the evening of Dec. 17, 2019.
Who investigated McGuffin's case?
Puracal, with the Forensic Justice Project, looked into McGuffin’s case and uncovered evidence that led to his exoneration in November last year. Her findings were evaluated by the Malheur County Circuit Court, which ruled that “the Oregon State Police lab violated McGuffin’s constitutional rights by failing to report DNA evidence that would have cleared him of the crime,” the release read.
How long was McGuffin in jail?
While incarcerated, the release pointed out that McGuffin missed most of his daughter’s childhood and that his career as an executive banquet chef “was destroyed by years of harassment preceding his wrongful imprisonment and the nine years behind bars that followed.
What damages does McGuffin seek?
The lawsuit concludes that McGuffin seeks “economic and non-economic damages,” as well as “an award of punitive damages ,” as well as the cost of his attorney fees and “such other relief as the Court finds just and equitable.”
When did McGuffin walk out of prison?
Nicholas McGuffin and his lead attorney, Janis Puracal of the Forensic Justice Project, walking out of prison on the evening of Dec. 17, 2019.
What is the Maloney Lauersdorf Reiner lawsuit?
According to a press release from his legal team at Maloney Lauersdorf Reiner, PC., the lawsuit alleges that local agencies manufactured “false evidence and (hid) other evidence that would have cleared him.”
Who took up McGuffin's case?
After four years of being incarcerated, attorney Janis Puracal with the Forensic Justice Project took up McGuffin's case and discovered breakthrough DNA evidence that law enforcement did not know about or include in their investigation or the trial. Puracal asked to have the DNA re-tested in 2017; the results would show the DNA on the victim's shoes belonged to another man.
Where was Leah Freeman's body found?
Before Leah Freeman's body was found in 2000, one of her tennis shoes was found near a cemetery in her hometown of Coquille, Oregon, while the other was found just outside of town — with blood on it. Nearly twenty years later, her gym shoes would hold the very DNA evidence that would free McGuffin from prison.
Did the judge in McGuffin's case prove his innocence?
Although a judge ruled there was a "reasonable probability" that the verdict on McGuffin's case would have been different had the DNA evidence been included in the trial, the judge maintained it did not demonstrate his innocence.
Why did McGuffin have trouble finding a job?
Since his release, McGuffin has struggled to rebuild his life. According to ABC, he’s had trouble finding a job because of the conviction, but he does enjoy spending time with his daughter. “It’s not an easy feat.
When did McGuffin's conviction come down?
That decision came down in December 2019. McGuffin gave his first interview since his overturned conviction to ABC’s 20/20 to air on Friday, February 28, 2020. “I was facing life in prison for a crime I didn’t commit,” he told 20/20. The murder took place in Coquille Oregon in 2000.
Why is McGuffin free?
Where is McGuffin today? He’s now a recently free man because a judge ruled that old DNA evidence could have changed the verdict if the jurors had been allowed to hear it. KGW8 reported that a judge found that Oregon State Police “failed to reveal DNA evidence that would have exonerated” McGuffin at trial.
How long was McGuffin sentenced?
The case was so weak that McGuffin was convicted with an unanimous jury, which is allowed in Oregon, according to OPB. He received a 10 year sentence and served about 9 years of it.
Where did the murder of Nicholas McGuffin take place?
The murder took place in Coquille Oregon in 2000. Here’s what you need to know: "I was facing life in prison for a crime I didn't commit.". Tonight, Nicholas McGuffin's first interview since his conviction was overturned.
What evidence did Nick McGuffin have in Leah Freeman's murder?
The key piece of evidence in Leah Freeman’s murder: Her bloody gym shoe. According to ABC, that shoe and its blood evidence have provided the main forensic evidence in the case. Today, Nick McGuffin is 37 years old. “That’s the reason why I’m here…to keep Leah’s name in the light. To bring her name forward, to get somebody to come forward with ...
What is McGuffin's mission?
It’s become his mission, McGuffin says, to keep Leah’s story in the spotlight and keep seeking the truth about what happened to her.
Where was Leah Freeman killed?
He was convicted of killing his high school girlfriend Leah Freeman in Coquille, a small Coos County town, in 2000.
Is Nick McGuffin a free man?
PORTLAND, Ore. — After spending nine years behind bars for a crime he’s always said he didn’t commit, Nick McGuffin is a free man.
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