A Detroit man who spent more than a decade in prison for a crime that his attorney says never happened is now suing the City of Detroit, Wayne County, and several public safety officials for over $100 million. The lawsuit accuses them of lying under oath, hiding evidence, and manipulating reports to secure a wrongful conviction.
Duane Williams was convicted in 2013 of setting a house fire that killed two people. He spent nearly 12 years behind bars before being exonerated in 2024, after new evidence showed investigators withheld crucial facts—including the discovery of a lighter found near the couch where the fire began.
“This case is about taking a conclusion and jamming evidence into it instead of letting the evidence lead to the truth,” said attorney Todd Flood during a press conference. “My client lost 12 years of his life because they chose to lie.”
The fire broke out in 2012 at a home on Fielding Street in Detroit. Attorney Todd Flood says the fire was accidental, and the medical examiner said the victims died of smoke inhalation—not homicide. But the case shifted after a jailhouse informant claimed Duane Williams confessed. He was arrested in early 2013 and later sentenced to life in prison.
According to the lawsuit, Detroit Fire Lt. Patrick McNulty initially reported finding a Zippo-style lighter in the debris—but that detail was removed from the version turned over to Williams’ defense. Photos of the lighter were also allegedly withheld for years.
At trial, McNulty testified that no lighter or smoking materials were found. “He looked the jury in the eye and said no. He perjured himself,” Flood said.
The lawsuit also alleges:
• McNulty created multiple versions of the fire report, only some of which included the lighter.
• Those versions were kept from the defense and surfaced nearly a decade later through a FOIA request by Duane.
• The state’s key witness, Gary Jennings, was allegedly paid $5,000 and given leniency in his own case for his testimony.
• DPD Sgt. Michael Russell, the lead officer on the case, took unrecorded statement and had a history of misconduct.
Russell’s past includes a long track record of abuse: in 2005, he was accused of coercing a suspect into giving false testimony through bribes and promises of parole. In 2007, he fabricated a confession from 14-year-old Devontae Sanford that led to a wrongful murder conviction. The Sixth Circuit later denied him qualified immunity. By 2019, Russell had been stripped of his homicide duties, gun, and arrest powers—and by 2022, he was placed on the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Brady-Giglio list.
“This wasn’t a mistake. It was a conspiracy,” Flood said.
Williams was released in June 2024 after the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Conviction Integrity Unit reexamined the case. Charges were formally dropped in October.
Williams also passed a polygraph test supporting his innocence.
“Prison does something to you,” Williams said. “I don’t know if my relationship with my wife will ever be the same…I’ve lost family, time, and parts of myself I can’t get back.”
He described panic attacks triggered by people walking behind him and flashbacks to prison conditions. “I wasn’t supposed to be there. But I had to live like I was.”
Williams now works with Firefly Advocates and the Organization of Exonerees to help others fighting wrongful convictions.
“I get calls all the time. Just today, someone asked how to file a FOIA request because they believe their family member is innocent,” he said. “The system doesn’t work for people once they’re inside it.”
Flood emphasized the lawsuit is about more than compensation.
“We’re sending a message loud and clear,” he said. “I’d rather see a guilty person go free than an innocent man be locked in a cage.”
He added: “They can’t defend this. McNulty has already admitted in part to investigators how important the lighter was—before walking out of the interview.”
