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A man exonerated for a 1992 murder filed a $125 million federal lawsuit on Wednesday against Detroit and two former cops who framed him, the New York Post reports.

Desmond Ricks, now 51, was recently released from prison after spending 25 years behind bars, convicted on faked evidence.

The police arrested Ricks and seized his mother’s gun a few days after his friend was fatally shot. It’s believed that the officers took bullets test fired from the gun and told a forensics expert that they were extracted from the victim’s body.

Ricks said after getting incarcerated it was not easy “to find someone to finally believe this happened to me, that the police did something,” he said at a news conference, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“It’s evil. I can’t picture how a police officer who is sworn to uphold the law and be objective could go to sleep at night,” said Rick’s attorney, Wolfgang Mueller, according to the Associated Press.

Unfortunately, the statute of limitations prevents a criminal prosecution of the officers, who are now retired.

“Since the officers cannot be put in prison, this is the only way to begin to right a horrific misconduct and the harm to our criminal justice system,” Mueller added.

The Free Press identified the officers as David Pauch, the evidence technician, and Donald Stawiasz, the investigating officer.

At the news conference, covered by the Free Press, Ricks described the nightmare of hoping to prove his innocence while sitting behind bars:

“I was fighting from the beginning. When I was arrested, I knew I wasn’t guilty, I just had to convince the police of this — which I shouldn’t have had to do, but that was my job at that time. They weren’t seeing it any other way.”

SOURCE:  New York Post, Associated Press, Detroit Free Press

SEE ALSO:

Florida Lawmakers Prepare To Apologize To Families Of Four Black Men Wrongly Accused Of Rape

Wrongly Convicted Man Awarded $6 Million After 24 Years In Prison

Wrongly Imprisoned Detroit Man Files $125 Million Lawsuit Against Cops Who Faked Evidence  was originally published on newsone.com