A federal judge has dismissed the City of Detroit and Wayne County from a wrongful prosecution suit brought by a man who spent more than a decade in prison for murder and arson, but allowed the case to proceed against the Detroit fire and police investigators accused of withholding and fabricating evidence that led to his conviction.
The suit was brought by Duane Lamar Smith against former Detroit Fire Department Captain Patrick McNulty, Detroit Police Sergeant Michael Russell and Detroit Police Investigator Donald Olsen, along with the City of Detroit and Wayne County.
The case arose out of an August 20, 2012, residential fire in Detroit that claimed the lives of Bobby Cross and Darryl Simms. Captain McNulty investigated the fire and initially classified its cause as undetermined…