Wrongfully convicted Conn. man sues DA, Springfield cops

A Connecticut man who spent 27 years behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit is suing police in Springfield and Hartford, as well as the Hampden District Attorney’s Office, arguing his wrongful conviction left him missing “weddings, funerals, births, graduations and birthdays.”

Mark Schand was 21 and a father of three in 1986 when he was convicted of the homicide of 25-year-old Victoria Seymour outside the After Five Lounge in Springfield, and 48 and a grandfather when his name was finally cleared in 2013.

“Honestly, I think I survived it because I was numb and had such tunnel vision trying to get out of prison, writing lawyers and law students and innocence projects until someone would listen. I think that’s what kept me sane,” Schand, now 50, told the Herald.

Schand’s wife, Mia, and the couple’s three adult sons, Mark Jr., Quinton and Kiele, are also named plaintiffs in the civil action filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston. The case has already been assigned to Judge Michael A. Ponsor and summons issued to the defendants. The Schands seek monetary damages to be determined by a jury.

“I’m sure they’re going to fight me tooth and nail,” Schand said. “I’m just trying to be compensated for the time I lost.”

Seymour was an innocent bystander outside the bar the night of Sept. 2, 1986, when, the lawsuit states, gunfire erupted during a drug deal and she was shot in the back.

A half-dozen witnesses claimed Schand was with his wife at the beauty salon where she worked at the time of the killing.

The 68-page lawsuit argues, among other things, that witnesses were coerced to pick Schand out of a photo array in exchange for having criminal charges dropped against them and that witness statements pointing to suspects other than Schand were withheld from the defense.

Hartford police declined to comment, and Springfield police and the Hampden DA’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Original report here


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