$1.4 Million Settlement: 16 Years in Prison for Wrongful Conviction

Civil Rights 05/14/2020bhorwitz

The Blake Horwitz Law Firm settled a federal lawsuit against the state of Indiana, the city of Anderson, and others for $1.4 million on behalf of Walter Goudy, who spent nearly two decades behind bars for a murder that he never committed.

As originally reported on by the Indianapolis Star, now in his mid-50s, Mr. Goudy was just 25 years old when he was first arrested for allegedly murdering Marvin McCloud at an Anderson night club in 1993. According to the Herald Bulletin, Mr. Goudy was charged and convicted of  McCloud’s murder and ultimately sentenced to death despite 16 alibi witnesses stating that Mr. Goudy was at a house party in Indianapolis at the time of the shooting.

Years later, Mr. Goudy’s luck would finally change when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his conviction in 2010 upon finding that police reports from the incident pointed to another suspect. As noted by South Bend Tribune, that evidence was never turned over to Mr. Goudy’s criminal defense attorneys.

As told in another Indianapolis Star article, a special prosecutor then dismissed the criminal case against Mr. Goudy in 2012. That same year, the firm filed suit on Mr. Goudy’s behalf for violations to his civil rights under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

If you or someone you know share a similar story as Mr. Goudy, contact The Blake Horwitz Law Firm at (312) 676-2100 or [email protected].

Read more about this case and settlement below:

  • Indianapolis Star, “His murder conviction was reversed. A court says he can sue the ex-detectives in his case.”
  • Indianapolis Star, “Man to get $1.4M from Indiana, city of Anderson after murder conviction reversal”
  • National Registry of Exonerations, “Walter Goudy”
  • Herald Bulletin, “Court of Appeals reverses decision in Goudy case”
  • Herald Bulletin, “Anderson to pay $1 million to settle suit in murder reversal”
  • South Bend Tribune, “Man to get $1.4M from Indiana, city of Anderson after murder conviction reversal”
  • The Indiana Lawyer, “7th Circuit reversal: Damages claims brought by exonerated man may proceed”
  • NBC News, “Suit can proceed against Madison County Prosecutor”