TOLEDO, Ohio — Danny Brown’s quest to be cleared of suspicion in a 1981 murder is once again on hold.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Lori Olender dismissed his civil case against the state of Ohio.
Brown was convicted in 1982 of killing and raping Bobbie Russell in a Birmingham Terrace apartment in Toledo. His conviction was vacated and he was released from prison in 2001 after DNA showed that another man, Sherman Preston, was responsible for the rape. Before his release, he also passed a polygraph test in which he was asked if he committed the murder or had any knowledge of it.
Since his release, he has been seeking to be declared a wrongfully imprisoned individual, which would allow him to be compensated for the almost 20 years he spent in prison.
He sued the state in 2002 and 2015, but those cases were dismissed - including appeals - largely because of a requirement that he prove that he would no longer be charged in the case.
Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates has never cleared him as a suspect because the victim’s 6-year-old son, Jeffrey, told detectives that Danny had killed his mother. But his story changed multiple times, notably from there being two men in the apartment to just one man in the apartment. As an adult, Jeffrey still told a detective that the man responsible was Danny, who briefly dated Russell.
But Brown told police and 11 Investigates that he was innocent and had no idea who Preston was. At least one witness told police that Brown was at his home all night, according to police records. Brown listed to us several people who could support his story.
Preston died in prison while serving a life sentence for committing a similar crime, strangling and sexually assaulting a woman. Both murders were committed with a garrote. Police have never been able to prove that Brown and Preston knew each other.
Jeffrey also told detectives a key detail about the murder. He said the killer tried to get in the back door but then went to the front door and used a key to get into the apartment. That key was found beside Russell’s body.
Last week, 11 Investigates obtained a Bureau of Criminal Investigation report that shows the key was tested for DNA in 2003 and it revealed a profile for an unknown male – and the profile did not match the profile for Brown or Preston.
And early this week, 11 Investigates obtained a BCI evidence log that indicated there had been a hit on the DNA and the 14 or 15-year-old boy was extensively interviewed by detectives and ruled out as a possible suspect. Detective Tom Ross told the BCI agent that he was concerned that contamination may have spoiled the DNA and provided a false positive. The report noted that though it returned a profile, it was only a partial profile and may have been a coincidental match.
In 2019, the General Assembly took away the requirement that a person prove they would never be charged in a case.
However, in her opinion, Judge Olender ruled that the state was entitled to the dismissal on the issue of actual innocence. The prosecutor’s office has noted in the past that the DNA cleared Brown of rape, but he was not convicted of rape. He was convicted of aggravated murder and he has not proven he is innocent of that charge.
Brown’s attorney wants him to have that opportunity.
“While we appreciate the court’s attention to Danny’s case, we respectfully disagree with the decision and will be appealing it,” Bart Keyes said. “Danny is completely innocent of Bobbie Russell’s murder and he deserves his day in court to prove it.”
Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Steven Slivka provided the following statement: “We respect the judge’s decision as this is the fourth time for the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office to litigate this case. The judge’s decision is consistent with the previous three opinions.”