A Georgia man who spent more than a quarter-century in prison for murder before his name was cleared with the help of two true crime podcasters has sued the county and cops behind his arrest and prosecution alleging he was framed for the accidental death of a friend during a game of Russian roulette.
Cain Storey, who was freed two years ago for the shooting of 15-year-old Brian Bowling, said in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that Floyd County detectives fabricated evidence, coerced false testimony from witnesses, and hid sexual liaisons with key figures in the case to stitch up Storey and his friend Darrell "Lee" Clark.
"Defendants' fabrication of false inculpatory evidence directly and proximately caused plaintiff's wrongful arrest, conviction, and deprivation of liberty without due process of law for over 26 years, as well as the physical, emotional, psychological, and pecuniary injuries described in this complaint and to be proved through discovery and at trial," Storey said.
The two men were convicted in 1998 of Bowling's murder and stayed in prison on life sentences until podcasters Susan Simpson and Jacinda Davis of the investigative true crime podcast "Proof" uncovered evidence suggesting the men were innocent. Storey and Clark were freed in December 2022 after their murder convictions were tossed, according to the Georgia Innocence Project, which worked on the case on the men's behalf.
Storey on Thursday said that he wants damages from the county, its former coroner, and police officers for framing him. Clark, for his part, filed a similar suit last month.
"Floyd County was aware of a widespread pattern of similar constitutional violations by untrained and unsupervised employees of the [Floyd County Police Department] and remained deliberately indifferent to the need to train and supervise those employees," he added.
Bowling, according to the suit, died on the night of Oct. 18, 1996, as a result of an accidental gunshot wound. Storey, who was 17 at the time, said that he brought his father's revolver over to Bowling's house, and the two boys began playing with it.
Bowling, who was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time, then loaded the gun, spun the chamber, pointed the gun at his head, and fired, killing himself.
After police responded to the scene, Detective Dallas Battle, who would lead the investigation, questioned Storey and Bowling's girlfriend. After conducting what Storey called an "inept and incompetent" crime scene investigation, Battle and his partner David Stewart allegedly began concocting a narrative that Storey had deliberately murdered Bowling.
Battle and Stewart's theory, according to the suit, was that Storey and Clark had been members of a gang called the Free Birds, and planned Bowling's execution for snitching on them about a supposed earlier crime.
To support this bogus narrative, Storey said, the officers ordered the exhuming of Bowling's casket, in which his friends had left a note wishing him well. Battle, who is now deceased, allegedly added the word "narcs," referring to snitches, to the note, and then drew a line through it to suggest the accident had in fact been a revenge killing.
As the investigation continued, Storey said Battle and Stewart allegedly pressured Angela Bruce, a single mother, to testify that she'd heard Storey boasting of having shot Bowling. They threatened Bruce that her children could be taken from her if she refused to cooperate, according to the suit, and Battle later coerced her into a sexual relationship with him.
Similarly, the officers are said to have secured false testimony from a hearing-impaired and nearly illiterate man that further implicated Storey and Clark. And the county coroner — who did not hold a medical license — reportedly conducted a sham examination of Bowling's body and later billed the boy's family $7,000 for an autopsy that was never actually done, per the complaint.
This evidence and more, Storey said, was uncovered by podcasters Simpson and Davis, leading the two men to eventually file extraordinary motions for a new trial that resulted in their release two years ago.
Alleging a slew of damages, Storey's suit names Floyd County former coroner Craig Burnes, former Floyd County police officers David Stewart and Mark Wallace, who reportedly also worked on the case, and the executor of Battle's will as defendants.
Counsel for Storey didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Floyd County and the other defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.
Storey is represented by Sam Starks of the Starks Law Firm and Wolfgang Mueller of the Mueller Law Firm.
Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available.
The case is Storey v. Floyd County et al., case number 4:24-cv-00288, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
--Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Law360
|The Practice of Law
Access to Justice
Aerospace & Defense
Appellate
Asset Management
Banking
Bankruptcy
Benefits
California
Cannabis
Capital Markets
Class Action
Colorado
Commercial Contracts
Competition
Compliance
Connecticut
Construction
Consumer Protection
Corporate
Criminal Practice
Cybersecurity & Privacy
Delaware
Employment
Energy
Environmental
Fintech
Florida
Food & Beverage
Georgia
Government Contracts
Health
Hospitality
Illinois
Immigration
Insurance
Intellectual Property
International Arbitration
International Trade
Legal Ethics
Legal Industry
Life Sciences
Massachusetts
Media & Entertainment
Mergers & Acquisitions
Michigan
Native American
Law360 Pulse
|Business of Law
Law360 Authority
|Deep News & Analysis
Healthcare Authority
Deals & Corporate Governance Digital Health & Technology Other Policy & ComplianceGlobal
- Law360
- Law360 UK
- Law360 Pulse
- Law360 Employment Authority
- Law360 Tax Authority
- Law360 Insurance Authority
- Law360 Real Estate Authority
- Law360 Healthcare Authority
- Law360 Bankruptcy Authority
- Products
- Lexis®
- Law360 In-Depth
- Law360 Podcasts
- Rankings
- Leaderboard Analytics
- Regional Powerhouses
- Law360's MVPs
- Women in Law Report
- Law360 400
- Diversity Snapshot
- Practice Groups of the Year
- Rising Stars
- Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar
- Sections
- Adv. Search & Platform Tools
- About all sections
- Browse all sections
- Banking
- Bankruptcy
- Class Action
- Competition
- Employment
- Energy
- Expert Analysis
- Insurance
- Intellectual Property
- Product Liability
- Securities
- Beta Tools
- Track docs
- Track attorneys
- Track judges
This article has been saved to your Briefcase
This article has been added to your Saved Articles
Ga. Man Freed After 26 Years Sues Over Bogus Murder Charge
By Chart Riggall | December 6, 2024, 9:34 PM EST · Listen to article