Lamont Cambell, who was previously given a life sentence, is requesting an undisclosed amount of damages.
A St. Louis man is suing the city and the detectives who worked on his case, arguing that he was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit and that this violated his constitutional rights. The guy spent 11 years in prison for a killing before his conviction was reversed.
According to Lamont D. Campbell’s lawsuit, his years of incarceration were caused by an improper inquiry. His case was filed on Monday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and it asks for unspecified damages.
After killing 29-year-old Lenny J. Gregory III in 2011, Cambell was imprisoned. In 2017, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a life sentence.
In 2022, a judge reversed the conviction, finding that Cambell’s lawyer had not done enough to investigate a different suspect or refute a weak case. The chief murder detective and a significant witness had a love relationship, which the judge found the investigators had concealed.
Cambell was freed in January after the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office formally dropped the allegations against him.
According to Cambell’s lawsuit, the police disregarded evidence pointing to a different guy whose fingerprints were discovered on the passenger-side glass of the SUV in which Gregory was shot to death as well as inaccurate eyewitness identifications. According to the lawsuit, Cambell had a “solid, verifiable alibi” for the shooting night as well.
A city representative refrained from discussing the lawsuit.
St. Louis’ New Prosecutor Takes Firm Stand: ‘Enforcing the Laws’ Amid Notable Crackdown on Violent Crime
Arrests for violent crimes have almost doubled from the same time last year.
The prosecution’s office reports that in the six months since an embattled progressive prosecutor was replaced by an appointed circuit attorney, the number of violent crime cases being prosecuted in St. Louis has increased dramatically.
In comparison to the same six-month period in 2022, when Kim Gardner was the city’s chief prosecutor, Gabe Gore’s office has prosecuted 45% more cases, he stated on Tuesday. During a press conference, Gore stated that his office has resolved over 2,500 criminal cases, primarily involving violent crimes in a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the country. This has helped to reduce the backlog of ongoing cases.
“There’s no type of crime that we are looking at the other way,” Gore stated. “We are enforcing the laws. We don’t accept the notion that as a citizen of the city of St. Louis you have to accept a certain amount of property crime, or what people would refer to as petty crime, as a cost of living in the city.”
Following Gardner’s departure, Republican Gov. Mike Parson nominated Democrat Gore in May. During her tumultuous tenure, she prosecuted a Republican governor who was in office at the time, had numerous run-ins with the law, and was criticized by Republican leaders in Missouri for a backlog of cases and a high percentage of cases in which individuals found guilty of severe crimes were not sentenced to longer prison terms.
In order to fill open assistant prosecutor positions, the newly appointed head prosecutor said that he had hired 24 lawyers. Additionally, he has established working contacts with U.S. private attorneys. St. Louis Attorney’s Office to assist in the prosecution of homicide cases.
He did admit that there is still work to be done. Gore took over 250 cases of homicide. Since he entered office, 53 homicide cases have been resolved, but 37 new cases have charges. Gore stated that his agency is currently reexamining 24 homicides “that the homicide division believes have merit” but that Gardner’s office did not charge.
Gore took office in the midst of a backlog of 6,700 open cases. That figure is now down to about $4,200. According to him, violent offenses are handled first.
By the end of March, the remaining cases, which consist of misdemeanors and low-level felonies, should be settled.
The leading civil rights leader and chair of a civilian-led jail oversight board, The Rev. Darryl Gray, stated that rather than concentrating on what occurs after crime, St. Louis should focus on preventing crime before it occurs. He claimed that the city jail had reached capacity ever since Gore took office. According to Gray, over 90% of the more than 750 inmates at the jail are young black men.
“Crime is still a problem,” Gray stated. “And until Gabe Gore and elected officials begin to talk about prevention, all we’re going to have are full jails.”
Gore announced that he has selected a retired judge to head a new conviction integrity section and hired a director of community engagement to look into potential cases of erroneous convictions. According to Gore, three convictions are presently being reviewed.
Following her victory in 2016, Democrat Gardner became the first black circuit attorney in the city. She belonged to a nationwide movement of progressive prosecutors who vowed to hold police more accountable, actively pursued the release of unfairly convicted prisoners, and pursued diversion programs for low-level crimes, such as drug misuse or mental health care.
In February, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit seeking Gardner’s removal citing three reasons: failing to prosecute ongoing cases; failing to press charges in police-initiated cases; and failing to communicate with and update victims’ families on the status of ongoing cases.
Gardner said that Bailey’s assault on her was driven by racial and political prejudice.
