Wrongly convicted Detroit man files lawsuit after spending 34 years in prison

Siggers said conviction felt like death sentence

DETROIT – A man who spent 34 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit filed a lawsuit against the Detroit police officers who helped put him behind bars.

Darrell Siggers said he's not bitter. It hasn't been a full year since he was freed from prison. He said the wrongful murder conviction felt more like a death sentence.

Siggers and his attorney, Wolf Mueller, have filed a lawsuit against former Detroit Police Department detective Joseph Alex and an evidence tech, Claude Houseworth, who is now dead.

Mueller alleges both framed Siggers for murder, "lied on the witness stand, hid evidence and in fact, manufactured evidence that caused Darrell Siggers to be convicted."

The lawsuit is asking for $150 million.

"We filed this lawsuit, not only for financially, but to bring awareness to this, to bring accountability," Mueller said.

Siggers said he lost decades of his life and time with his loved ones.

"I lost my oldest daughter one month after I got out. Nothing in life could have prepared me for that. I fought all those years just to get out and be with her and children and then she passed away," Siggers said.


About the Authors

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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