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Man Acquitted After 24 Years In Prison Suing NYC, NYPD

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - A man who spent 24 years in prison before being retried and acquitted in a 1989 New York City killing is suing police, saying detectives mishandled the investigation.

Derrick Deacon is seeking unspecified damages in a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the city. The city Law Department had no immediate comment.

Deacon was convicted in the 1989 shooting death of a teenager during a robbery in a Flatbush apartment complex. He was granted a new trial in 2012 after one witness recanted and an FBI cooperator identified a different man as the shooter.

It took a jury nine minutes to acquit Deacon in 2013.

His lawyer, Earl Ward, says the case reflects "gross misconduct'' by detectives.

Deacon also has an ongoing $25 million lawsuit against the state.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

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