ST. LOUIS - A man who spent more than two decades in jail for crimes he did not commit is suing the City of O'Fallon, St. Charles County and numerous law enforcement officers.
They are accused in a March 8 federal lawsuit of depriving him of his constitutional right to due process and a fair trial, illegal detention and prosecution, failure to intervene, conspiracy to deprive constitutional rights, wrongful conviction, malicious prosecution, civil conspiracy, respondeat superior and indemnification.
Plaintiff Jonathan Irons was only 16 when he was convicted and jailed for 23 years for the January 1997 burglary and shooting of Stanley Stotler in O'Fallon.
Despite Irons allegedly having no affiliation with the crime, no fingerprints or DNA at the scene and a strong alibi, the officers named in the case are accused of deliberately concealing or tampering with the evidence to portray Irons as guilty.
The defendants are also accused of doctoring a false report and manipulating the shooting and robbery victim into identifying Irons as the perpetrator.
In July 2020, suppressed evidence was discovered that revealed the officers had replaced the evidence and report with doctored, manipulated information, the suit says.
Despite being exonerated, Irons lost 23 years of his life for a crime he did not commit, he says.
The entire list of defendants who were police officers at the time named in the case are: from the O'Fallon Police Department, John Neske, Richard Morrell, Douglas Tinkham and Michael Hanlen; from the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department, Ricky Luetkenhau and Mark O'Neill.
The plaintiff is represented by Loevy and Loevy of Chicago. Irons is married to professional women's basketball star Maya Moore.