Woman wrongly convicted of murder sues

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Lynn DeJac-Peters has filed a $30 million wrongful imprisonment lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The suit seeks damages from Erie County and a number of Buffalo Police officers.

"This is the one where the truth is gonna come out, what was done to me," said Peters.

Two years after filing suit against NY State, Lynn DeJac-Peters is now suing specific individuals, including Former DA Frank Clark, and former Assistant DA Joe Maruzak, who prosecuted her, and who even the day after she was released from prison said this.

"In my mind, based on the evidence, she's a stone cold murderer," said Maruzak.

Peters countered, "Well, he went after me with a vengeance, and he said that he was coming after me with a vengeance, so this is why he's named."

This suit filed in Federal Court names Erie County, the City of Buffalo, and a dozen Buffalo Police detectives and officers who investigated the death of her daughter, Crystallyn Girard, in 1993.

Peters' attorney, Steve Cohen, stated, "I'm going to get those defendants under oath, whether it's in the form of a deposition or a trial, or both."

The suit alleges they ignored some of the facts that would've tied Dennis Donahue to the girl's death, and instead built a case around her mother who spent 13 years in prison, and who was pregnant with twins.

"They took my babies and I wasn't allowed to raise them, and it's been hard," said Peters.

It was three years ago this week that a judge vacated her conviction, but she says she doesn't feel truly free.

Peters said, "I find it very hard to work. I can't even sometimes let my husband go to work. I'm afraid to be alone, because I was alone for a certain period of time in my life and they pinned this murder on me for not being able to account for seven minutes outta my life."

In this $30 million suit, the 14 individuals will be served with papers over the next several days. In most cases, the city or the county they worked for usually pay for their individual legal fees.