Man Jailed for 20 Years for Murder Found Not Guilty in Retrial
An Ohio man who was jailed for 20 years for murder has won his freedom following a not-guilty verdict at a retrial.
Michael Buehner was convicted in 2002 for the 2001 killing of Jerry Saunders at a home in Cleveland, and he then spent 20 years in jail.
But it took a jury in Cuyahoga County less than two hours to return a not guilty verdict, which was met with applause from Buehner's family, according to Ideastream Public Media.
According to the network, Buehner said following the verdict: "I want to say it was bittersweet, just because it was so late."
He had asked for a new trial in 2014, as he said the state had failed to hand over witness statements to the defense team that supported his case.
There was no physical evidence against Buehner in 2001, as officers found no gun, DNA, or any other evidence.
Black trucks had been identified as potentially being involved, but DNA testing and other trace evidence wasn't carried out and one of them was destroyed by the Cleveland Division of Police ahead of the first trial, according to police.
His conviction was overturned in 2021 and Buehner was released on bail the following year ahead of the retrial, Ideastram Public Media reported.
According to the Georgia Innocence Project, which has helped to free and exonerate 13 people, an estimated 4 percent of people incarcerated in the U.S. are innocent of the crimes they were convicted for.
Witnesses who lived close to the home where Saunders was killed had shared their accounts with the police. They weren't handed over ahead of the initial trial.
One of those who testified was Debbie Powell, who claimed that she saw a Black man kill Saunders.
Buehner's attorney, Russell Randazzo, told Ideastream Public Media: "She's not getting anything out of this. She's not going to ID someone she knows is innocent."
Another witness, Randy Price, first testified he had been driving Buehner's black pickup truck in the morning of May 24, 2001, and that Buehner had killed Saunders during an attempt to buy drugs.
But Randazzo claimed Price had a motive to testify against Buehner and that he had lied at the original trial.
During his closing arguments, Randazzo said: "Randy Price came in and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter to make sure he was not subject to the death penalty."
Price's plea deal with prosecution lawyers in 2002 resulted in a three-year sentence, according to Ideastream Public Media.
Newsweek has contacted Randazzo for comment via email.
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