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Hammond fights $9M jury award Aug. 30, 2006 By Andy Grimm / Post-Tribune staff writer HAMMOND — The city will appeal a $9 million judgment awarded to Larry Mayes, a Gary man who said police misconduct led to his wrongful conviction in a 1981 rape case. City attorneys filed for the appeal Monday and lawyer Joseph O’Connor said the city will exhaust the appeals process before it pays Mayes, 53, the $9 million a jury awarded Mayes. Mayes sued the city police department and Cpt. Michael Solan, claiming they concealed evidence that would’ve exonerated him in the rape of a gas station clerk. Mayes served more than 18 years of a 75-year sentence before DNA evidence cleared him of the rape. At trial, city attorneys cast doubt on the DNA evidence and never conceded Mayes’ innocence, although Lake County Prosecutors petitioned for his release after receiving DNA analysis and learning that the victim had been hypnotized by a Hammond police officer before she identified Mayes in a lineup. “I think there’s a misconception with the DNA evidence,” said O’Connor. “That was a big part of his release, but that does not exonerate him. It just shows he did not (leave DNA) on the victim’s underwear. It doesn’t show that he wasn’t there.” The victim told police that she was raped by two men, though only the shorter of the two ejaculated during the assault. Mayes, who is 5-feet 5-inches tall, was the shorter of the two men convicted of the rape, notes his attorney, John Stainthorp. “If that’s the basis for the defense appeal, then we have nothing to worry about,” Stainthorp said. “He’s saying the fact that Larry Mayes was found innocent should not have been admitted? I don’t think that’s going to hold up.” O’Connor said the defense will likely question Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry’s decision to allow the DNA evidence to be admitted, as well as Cherry’s refusal to allow the defense to mention Mayes’ prior felony convictions, including a 1969 rape conviction. Stainthorp said both points are clearly covered in legal rules of evidence. The appeal must be based on procedural errors to move forward, with the court either reversing the ruling or ordering a new trial. The city and Solan are liable for the $9 million judgment, and Stainthorp said he will petition the court for legal fees that total several million dollars. Stainthorp was co-counsel with Nick Brustin, an attorney of New York law firm of Cochran Neufield & Scheck, the firm founded by Johnnie Cochran and Barry Scheck. City officials never made a good faith offer to settle the case before trial, a solution that would have cost the city considerably less, Stainthorp said. At this point, cost is not an issue for the city. “We’re going to exhaust the appeals process and that’s it,” O’Connor said. “The city of Hammond does have a problem paying someone with his background, background that the court would not let us mention at trial.”
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