Lathierial Boyd is an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

man from Chicago who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1990 and served 23 years in prison. His appeals were turned down. An investigation by

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

television in 2001 helped document new evidence in his case. A review by the

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney functions as the state of Illinois's district attorney for Cook County, Illinois, and heads the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States. The office has over 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In ad ...

office in 2012-13 found that the police work on his case was flawed. His conviction was overturned; Boyd was fully exonerated and freed in September 2013. Boyd sued the city of Chicago and various named officials, and was awarded $213,624 in compensation. He also filed a federal civil rights suit against

Richard Zuley Richard Patrick Zuley (born October 3, 1946) is a former homicide detective in the United States who had a 37-year career in the Chicago Police Department. He is most known for obtaining confessions from suspects by torture. Since the early 2000s ...

, the Chicago homicide detective in his case, in 2013.''Boyd v. City of Chicago''-U.S.D.C. (N.D. Ill.), Case No. 1:13-cv-07152 Zuley is the subject of civil suits by other inmates seeking to overturn convictions; they have said that he subjected them to both physical and psychological torture, and framed suspects.

Background and case

Lathierial Boyd was born and grew up in Chicago. He later admitted to having sold drugs when he was young, but put his life in order, becoming a successful realtor. At age 24, he had a loft in Chicago. In March 1990, learning that the police were looking for him, the 24-year-old Boyd went to a police station and agreed to be in a line-up. His name had come up when police talked with Ricky Warner, the severely wounded survivor of a February shooting at the Exodus club in Wrigleyville. Warner did not see the fatal shooting of Michael Fleming, as both men were both shot in the back. They were outside the Exodus club and apparently involved in a drug deal. Boyd did not match the eyewitness descriptions from the murder. He was fifty pounds heavier and several inches taller than the witness description. He lacked the facial hair which eyewitnesses described of the suspect, and had different skin tone. He also had an alibi, as he was staying that night 20 miles away from the scene of the shooting, at the home of his sister and brother-in-law. His brother-in-law, a

deputy sheriff