LANSING, MI (WTVB) – A Burlington Township woman who spent eight years in prison for a crime she did not commit has taken Calhoun County and the estate of the Sheriff’s Detective who investigated her to court.
Attornies for Lorinda Swain filed the 14-page lawsuit on Thursday in Federal Court. The lawsuit seeks compensation and punitive damages.
Swain is not only taking Calhoun County to court, she is also suing the estate of Detective Guy Picketts who she claims withheld vital testimony that could have prevented her from going to prison in the first place.
Swain was convicted in 2002 for molesting her 13-year-old adopted son, Ronnie Swain.
David Moran with the Michigan Innocence Project said they found witnesses who were suppressed by the prosecutor before the original trial who would have convinced a jury that the charges against her were just not credible.
After spending eight years in prison, Swain had to spend seven more years on a tether during appeals because her adopted son made up claims that he later recanted.
She finally won her freedom in May of 2016 when the Michigan Supreme Court ordered a new trial and Calhoun County Prosecutor Dan Gilbert said he would not retry the case.
