PONTIAC (WWJ) -- After being wrongfully convicted in 1997 and serving 25 years in prison, two brothers are suing the men that framed them -- and the justice system that failed them -- for $125 million.
George and Melvin DeJesus were unjustly implicated, charged and convicted of the rape and murder of Margaret Midkiff in Pontiac in 1995.
DNA evidence tied the crime to an acquaintance of the Midkiff family, Brandon Gohagen. When police located Gohagen in Florida, however, the man claimed the DeJesus brothers forced him to rape Midkiff, then moved the woman's body and murdered her themselves.
Although detectives had no evidence to support Gohagen's accusation, they offered him a so-called "sweetheart" deal. If Gohagen submitted to a polygraph and passed, he would be allowed to plead down to sexual assault and second-degree murder, avoiding a first-degree murder charge.
Gohagen took the deal, and -- according to polygraph examiner Chester Romatowski -- passed his polygraph.
The DeJesus brothers were tried and convicted of first-degree murder in December 1997, on the basis of Gohagen's testimony -- and nothing else. No other physical or circumstantial evidence tied either man to Midkiff's death.
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They were sentenced to life in prison without parole.
After years of unsuccessful attempts to appeal their convictions, the brothers got the attention of the Cooley Innocence Project and the Michigan Innocence Clinic. Through these organizations, their cases were submitted to the Attorney General's Conviction Integrity Unit (AGCIU), and an intensive investigation was launched.
What the AGCIU uncovered was damning.
Not only were George and Melvin DeJesus charged and convicted on flimsy testimony from a suspect witness, but investigators intentionally fabricated and withheld evidence to secure the wrongful conviction.
First, Gohagen failed his polygraph test, and the examiner falsified the report that was passed along to prosecutors.
Additionally, Oakland County detectives knew that Gohagen had a history of sexual assault, and the Midkiff case was "strikingly similar" to another rape and murder case from 1994. Gohagen was eventually tried and convicted of the identical case in 2017.
Finally, investigators withheld evidence that established the DeJesus brothers' alibi. They were at a party when Midkiff was assaulted and killed.
In light of these bombshell revelations, Attorney General Dana Nessel authorized the motion to vacate the men's convictions and dismiss charges.
George and Melvin DeJesus were released from prison on March 22, 2022.
Now the brothers are suing Oakland County Detective William Harvey, polygraph examiner Chet Romatowski and Oakland County for the "egregious" misconduct that robbed them of 25 years of their lives.
The DeJesus brothers are represented by Mueller Law Firm in Novi, who held a press conference announcing the lawsuit on Tuesday afternoon.
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