Lamonte McIntyre, a Kansas man who was imprisoned for 23 years for a double murder he didn’t commit, is seeking $93 million in damages from the county where he was convicted and a former police officer.
McIntyre and his mother allege the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, is behind the actions of former detective Roger Golubski. McIntyre’s mom, who is seeking $30 million, alleges that Golubski coerced her into sex and then framed her son McIntyre for a double homicide in 1994 because she rejected the detective’s later sexual advances, the Associated Press reported.
McIntyre and her mom also in their lawsuit accuse Golubski of abusing Black women for years and using them as anonymous “informants” to clear cases, according to KCUR News. Golubski has denied the allegations while a judge on Thursday set a November 7 jury trial for the lawsuit.
The state of Kansas paid $1.5 million to McIntyre in 2020 after the Attorney General’s office decided that he was wrongfully convicted in the 1994 double murder case. McIntyre, who was 17 at the time of the conviction, served 8,583 days (approx 23 and a half years) for the murders of Donald Ewing and Doniel Quinn. He received two life sentences for the murders but in 2017, a judge vacated the sentence and freed McIntyre.
McIntyre sued the state of Kansas for wrongful conviction and sought compensation two years after coming out. But the state initially refused to budge. The office of state Attorney General said in 2019 that it found “the record of prior judicial proceedings … insufficient” to warrant any sort of compensation for McIntyre.
Kansas, in 2018, passed a law to award compensation for the wrongfully convicted – a sum of $65,000 for every year served. McIntyre supported efforts to pass the 2018 law and at the time, told local news: “I’m not angry. I’m frustrated because I don’t like to see this kind of injustice happen to nobody.
“We are going to help innocent people come home. But we also want to make sure they are sound and on solid ground once they get here.”
Now 45, McIntyre, who was also awarded a certificate of innocence in 2020, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the lawsuit. “As a result of depression and anxiety, Lamonte has problems sleeping,” his lawyers state. “He experiences nightmares. During the day, he is also hypervigilant and anxious.”
His mother underwent psychological treatment for 17 years and has also been diagnosed with PTSD, per the lawsuit.
