Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A federal judge ruled against the plaintiff in a similar case in 2005.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- For the third time, the 11th District Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Steven Henderson of Warren, who was convicted of rape twice in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court but had his conviction overturned.
This time, the appeals court has overturned a decision in a civil case by Common Pleas Judge Peter Kontos.
The court said the judge erred in granting summary judgment (meaning without a trial) to the state in 2004. That was when Henderson asked the state to declare him innocent of the rape and pay him more than 345,000 as compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
The latest ruling means that Henderson's case will return to common pleas court for a determination of whether Henderson can prove innocence at trial.
The trial court "prematurely concluded" that Henderson did not meet the burden of proof required to have the case proceed to trial, the appeals court said in the ruling, which was written by Judge William M. O'Neill. Judge Diane V. Grendell dissented.
Henderson, of Dana Street, was convicted in 1998 of raping a 12-year-old girl while baby-sitting her and her 4-year-old brother in 1997. The appeals court overturned that decision, citing ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct.
Overturned again
Henderson was convicted of the rape a second time, but that conviction was also overturned by the appeals court on Henderson's claims of ineffective counsel.
After that, the victim recanted her allegation to avoid having to testify at a third trial, prosecutors said. Henderson was released from prison after serving more than four years of a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years.
In the latest ruling, the appeals court said for Judge Kontos to rule against Henderson on summary judgment, the state would have to point to evidence that demonstrates that Henderson has no evidence to support his claim.
Henderson, however, provided a report of a lie detector test he'd passed, a report regarding a state-approved lie detector with inconclusive results, the results of a doctor's sexual assault examination, the written recantation from the victim, and testimony showing inconsistencies in the victim's statements to a social worker and to jurors.
Justice Grendell wrote that many of the facts cited by Justice O'Neill are not applicable for the purpose of determining whether Henderson is innocent.
Henderson filed a similar lawsuit in federal court against the county children services board, Warren Police Department, county prosecutor's office, attorney Sarah Kovoor and others. Federal Judge Peter C. Economus ruled against Henderson in that case in September 2005.
runyan@vindy.com