Minnesota Man Released 25 years After Being Wrongfully Convicted Sues Medical Examiner and Authorities
A Minnesota man who was released last year after being sentenced to imprisonment for almost 25 years for the death of his wife is now suing a former medical examiner and other authorities. He claims that they fabricated and withheld evidence, which led to a wrongful conviction, he claims.
Thomas Rhodes, 64, filed the case in federal court, naming former Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee and others.
Rhodes was convicted of first and second-degree murder following the death of his wife, Jane which happened during a boat ride on Green Lake in Spicer, Minnesota, in 1996. He was imprisoned for life until last year when he became the first person released from prison through Minnesota’s new conviction review unit.
The lawsuit states that McGee and Late Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue and a Hennepin County investigator rigged unsupported conclusions and handed in false testimony to present Jane Rhodes’ death as a case of murder.
“I have gained my freedom,” Rhodes said in a statement Tuesday Jan. 16. “I now look forward to justice.”
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