David Lemus spent 14 years in prison for a crime he did not commit--a widely publicized murder of a bouncer at the 14th St. nightclub The Palladium. Now he's using the legal system that put him away against itself.
A lot has changed since the murder. The building that housed The Palladium now is the address of an NYU dorm. Lemus was released from prison after a re-trial and has since moved to Miami, Florida. Robert Morgenthau is still the Manhattan District Attorney, however, and the men suspected of actually killing Marcus Peterson haven't been prosecuted.
That's why Lemus is suing the city, claiming that even after those involved in his prosecution became aware of his innocence, they allowed his life to slip away behind bars. Lemus now has a fiancee and two young children, but he remains bitter about his encounter with New York's legal system. His lawyer Steven Scheisel told the Daily News, "The best years of his life were robbed from him by a failed system."
