Man files second lawsuit over his imprisonment

Prosecutor Dennis Watkins says he believes there is no legal basis for the suit.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man who was twice convicted of the same rape charge before prosecutors decided to dismiss it has filed his second lawsuit, alleging wrongful imprisonment.
Steven Henderson, of Dana Street, Warren, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District in Youngstown last week. He filed a similar lawsuit in April in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
A Sept. 29 pretrial hearing date is set on the case in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
He names the Trumbull County prosecutor's office and the Warren Police Department as defendants.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins says he believes there is no legal basis for the suit.
After two trials, two guilty verdicts and two appellate reversals, Henderson was released from prison.
In the federal lawsuit Henderson is seeking more than $1 million.
Recanted
The prosecutor's office has stated that prosecutors dismissed the charge because the girl who accused Henderson has recanted her allegation, saying she did not want to face a third trial.
According to the prosecutor's office, the girl, who testified at two other trials when she was 13 and 15, recanted her statement "solely to avoid a third trial."
Henderson was freed from prison in April 2003 after the 11th District Court of Appeals ordered his case be sent back to the trial court.
The appellate court issued a 12-page opinion stating Henderson deserved a new trial because of ineffective counsel. It said Henderson's Cleveland lawyer did not call the doctor who examined the girl to testify.
Henderson was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years.
He was first convicted in 1998 and got the same sentence, but that too was overturned on appeal and he was released from prison on $50,000 bond to await a second trial. The appeals court judges cited ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct in overturning the first conviction.
The girl, now 17, testified during the two trials that Henderson raped her in December 1997 when he was baby-sitting her and her 4-year-old brother.
The girl did not report her allegation to authorities for a year. She said Henderson threatened to hurt her if she told anyone.
sinkovich@vindy.com