A man who spent 20 years in prison for a murder he did not commit is suing the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
On Thursday, Michael Buehner was flanked by his attorneys Sarah Gelsomino and Elizabeth Bonham during a press conference announcing the lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Cleveland.
“My expectations are that we will succeed,” said Buehner. “I believe in justice. However, I don’t have faith in the system.”
The city had just learned of the lawsuit Thursday and is reviewing it, according to a city spokesperson. The county prosecutor's office has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Buehner was convicted of killing Jerry Saunders at a home on Marah Avenue on Cleveland's East Side in 2001.
Two decades later, an appeals court overturned his conviction, and he was released on bail in 2022 to await retrial.
Buehner asked for a new trial in 2014 because he said the state did not turn over witness statements to the defense that supported his innocence. An appellate court agreed that was grounds for a retrial.
In 2023, a jury found Buehner not guilty after one of those witnesses, Debbie Powell, testified during the retrial that she looked out the window and saw a Black man kill Saunders.
Buehner is white.
Buehner's case was one featured in an Ideastream Public Media, Ohio Newsroom and Columbia Journalism investigation into how undisclosed evidence and prosecutorial errors can put Ohioans behind bars without the proper opportunity to defend themselves.
The lawsuit lists the city of Cleveland, along with Cleveland Division of Police detectives who worked on the case, Sahir Hasan, Michael Beaman and Joseph Petkac, as defendants.
“Michael Buehner is just one of so many exonerees who has suffered because of these unconstitutional policies and practices of not just the Cleveland Police Department, but also the county,” said Gelsomino.
Cuyahoga County is also listed as a defendant, along with the two assistant prosecuting attorneys who handled Buehner’s case back in 2001: Richard Bombik, who is now retired, and Christopher Keim, who works in private practice in Cleveland.
Bombik and Keim have not yet responded to requests for comment.
When Buehner was sent to prison at the age of 23, he had two sons, ages 1 and 4. Since his release from prison, Buehner said he’s struggled to make up for lost time with his now-grown children.
Buehner is seeking compensation for fabrication of evidence, due process violations and malicious prosecution against the officers, prosecutors, city and county involved in the case.
“It's hard to create bonds with people in this way,” Buehner said. “My kids especially, and even today, I'm struggling to hold a relationship with them and my grandbaby.”
