TOLEDO -- Danny Brown spent 19 years in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit. Prosecutors dropped the charges against him two years ago, but Brown is still trying to clear his name. Thursday afternoon, Brown joined family and friends for a rally in front of the Lucas County Courthouse. Brown says he wanted to hold the rally on the birthday of Martin Luther King.
Brown is hoping for an apology from prosecutors and restitution for "wrongful imprisonment." Brown said, "I don't feel like I have all the great things that they talk about in the constitution like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and I'm out here pursuing that."
A jury convicted Brown for the strangulation death of Bobbi Russell in 1981. However, Brown was released in 2001 when DNA Tests showed semen found in the victim belong to Sherman Preston. He is not in prison serving time for killing another woman. Despite that, prosecutors say Brown is still a suspect.
Prosecutor Julia Bates said, "If and when I could ever exonerate either he or someone else from this case, I would shout it from the top of the courthouse step." Prosecutor Bates said the victim's 6-year-old son, Jeffrey Russell, testified that two people killed his mother, and the boy identified Danny Brown as one of them. Jeffrey has not changed his story to this day.
Brown's attorney, Jon Richardson, claims the boy's testimony is unreliable. Richardson said, "The state of Ohio is crediting the testimony of Jeffrey when he was six-years-old. Understand now, this is the horrified and fleeting testimony of a 6-year-old child. Danny Brown says he'll keep fighting to clear his name. Brown said, "I lost my life. For 19 years, I felt like it was stolen and I was released in the interest of justice, but I'm still being called a suspect."
