Innocent man sues Detroit Police after spending 34 years in prison

(FOX 2) - A Detroit man is suing two investigators who help put him behind bars for 34 years for a murder he did not commit. 

“They chained me up, they put chains around my stomach they put chains around my wrist, my legs and chained me to like 20 other people, I felt like a slave,” Darrell Siggers said.

 Darrell Siggers was only 20-years-old when he was convicted of killing someone, tied to a murder from 1984. The problem that would keep Siggers locked up for decades-he didn’t do it. 

"Tears rolling down my face, I’m thinking about my mother and my father, the embarrassment, but behind all of that I'm innocent, I’m not supposed to be here," he said. 

Siggers attorney Wolfgang Mueller says evidence was bad in the case. The lawsuit names a former Detroit Police Firearms Expert Claude Houseworth and lead homicide detective at the time Sergeant Joseph Alex.

Mueller alleges Alex manufactured evidence to create probable cause and the testimony from Houseworth was discredited. 

"I think it is over zealous cops who have seen a lot of bad stuff in their day and become numb to the idea of what justice is," Mueller said. 

Siggers worked his case from behind bars and in 2018 new evidence meant he would finally be released.

"I could be bitter and sad but as Wolf just said I’m on the other side of life and so I want to spend my time being positive and looking forward to life, seeing my grandchildren and that's a blessing to be able to go see my grandchildren, go see their games," Siggers said. 

Attorney Wolfgang Mueller made it exceedingly clear that this is not an indictment of the Detroit Police Department or of all officers, just these two specific employees who he said definitely acted inappropriately.

He says in terms of the $150 million dollars that they're seeking he'd rather see this case settled outside of court.