US man wrongfully imprisoned for 32 years sues former officials

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - A man in the US, who spent 32 years in prison — including 10 on death row — for a double murder he did not commit is now suing former law enforcement officials, ABC News reported Thursday.

Four of the five individuals named in the lawsuit have since died.

John Huffington, who was fully pardoned in January 2023 by then-Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, was exonerated due to prosecutorial misconduct in the 1981 double homicide case in Harford County.

Later that year, under Governor Wes Moore’s administration, a Maryland board approved $2.9 million in compensation for Huffington.

In a statement Thursday, Huffington reflected on his decades-long pursuit of justice: “It took many, many painful years, but the truth eventually came out.”

He was just 18-years-old when he was arrested, and noted with sorrow that his parents passed away before they could witness his exoneration and release.

"All of those years I spent behind bars damaged and strained my relationships, cost me the ability to have a family of my own, cost me the ability to be with my mother when she died, cost me precious time with my father who was in his nineties and suffering from Alzheimer’s when I finally was released,” he said.

John Huffington, now 62, has always insisted he was innocent.

He was released in 2013 from Patuxent Institution after serving 32 years of two life sentences for crimes he did not commit.

He had been twice convicted in the case widely known as the Memorial Day Murders.

Diane Becker was found fatally stabbed in her RV, while her 4-year-old son was left unharmed.

Becker’s boyfriend, Joseph Hudson, was shot and discovered several miles away.

Another suspect in the case, who testified against Huffington, was also convicted of first-degree murder, and served 27 years in prison.

The prosecution’s case relied heavily on hair evidence that allegedly linked Huffington to the crime scene — evidence later discredited. Huffington appealed his 1981 conviction, but a jury found him guilty again in 1983 and sentenced him to death. That sentence was later reduced to two life terms.

Doubts about the validity of the forensic evidence surfaced after The Washington Post reported in 2011 that a 1999 FBI report questioned the methods used by the agent who examined the hair samples.

The report suggested the agent may not have used sound scientific techniques — or may not have tested the hair at all.

Despite its importance, the report was never disclosed to Huffington’s legal team by then-Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly.