PA: Laughman case finally settled: Guilty party escapes

No wonder it was settled out of court. As I noted on May 25, 2005: "An Adams County man imprisoned for 16 years for a murder he did not commit filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the county, the state police and investigators, accusing them of lying and doctoring evidence to obtain the conviction. Attorneys for Barry Laughman, 42, of Hanover, charge in the suit that Laughman's wrongful conviction "is part of a persistent and troubling pattern of manipulating and falsifying evidence and testimony that exists and is condoned within certain law enforcement units of the commonwealth and the county." The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, names troopers John J. Holtz and Donald Blevins, state police chemist Janice Roadcap and four former state police commissioners as defendants, as well as Adams County and its district attorney's office. It charges that the commissioners and other high-ranking members of the state police knew the investigators would fabricate evidence and did nothing to stop it. "The aforementioned misconduct of defendants troopers Holtz and Blevins and Chemist Roadcap is consistent with a pattern of misconduct which has existed, been condoned and even encouraged within the PSP for at least the last 34 years," the suit says.

If he never sees the inside of a courtroom again he'll be happy. That's how an attorney sums up the feelings of an Adams County man who's been fighting for justice for more than two decades now. As Myranda Stephens explains, his fight may finally be over. During those 16-years Barry Laughman spent in prison he missed out on a lot of important moments, including the death of his mother. Knowing he spent all that time behind bars for a crime he didn't commit he wanted justice, and now he's finally getting it. "What happened to him should not happen, not in this country."

Laughman was supposed to spend the rest of his life in prison for the 1987 rape and murder of his elderly cousin Edna Laughman. In 2003 DNA evidence proved the mildly retarded man's innocence and set him free. Laughman's Attorney William Costopoulos: "To do 16 years behind bars from the time you were 24 to 40, is a pretty hefty price to pay for any amount of money."

Soon after his release Laughman filed a civil lawsuit against two State Troopers and a former chemist who helped convict him. The trial was supposed to start this week, but late on Friday the parties settled.

Laughman's attorney says he'll leave it to the state to release the terms but did say his client, who went back to the same minimum wage job he had before prison, is financially set for life. "I don't know if he fully appreciates it, but his first question was can I buy a four-wheeler and the answer is `yes'." A spokesperson for the Attorney General's office wouldn't talk about the terms of the settlement because the paperwork is not yet finalized.

Who really killed Edna Laughman is still unknown. [The guilty party might still in fact be traceable if the crooked cops had not destroyed the DNA evidence]


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