KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man who was wrongly convicted of a 1996 double murder has filed a lawsuit in federal court against KCPD, alleging civil conspiracy and false arrest among other violations of his rights.
Ricky Kidd, who spent 23 years in prison for the murders of George Bryant and Oscar “Junior” Bridges, filed the lawsuit Thursday in the Western District of Missouri, alleging that officers purposefully ignored evidence “suggesting Ricky Kidd’s innocence.”
Six KCPD officers — George Barrios, David Bernard, Kent Morton, Jay Pruetting, Ronald Russell and Jay Thompson — are accused of deprivation of liberty without due process and denying Kidd a fair trial.
Court documents state the officers:
- Omitted information from report about Kidd’s whereabouts;
- Failed to investigate Kidd’s innocence and statements from other suspects;
- Failed to collect and test evidence “that was potentially exculpatory” to Kidd and “potentially inculpatory” to other suspects.
The complaint from Kidd's attorneys also levy charges of — malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourth and 14th Amendments; claims for First and 14th Amendment rights violations related to access to courts and executive clemency; failure to intervene; abuse of process; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligent infliction of emotional distress; civil and civil rights conspiracy.
Bernard also is accused of a supervisory liability claim for allegedly participating “in the misconduct that resulted in Kidd’s wrongful conviction, including, but not limited to, fabricating evidence.”
Kidd was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in a jury trial in May 1997 despite no physical evidence linking him to the murders. His sentence was life without parole.
He was released in August 2019 and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed charges against him that September.
In addition to the six KCPD officers, the suit also names the city and the KCMO Board of Police Commissioners.
Court documents allege that because of “actions and omissions” on the part of KCPD officers and the Board of Police Commissioners, Kidd suffered “mental anguish, emotional distress, indignities, degradation, permanent loss of natural psychological development, and restrictions on all forms of personal freedom.”
Kidd also suffered a heart attack and underwent triple-bypass surgery 18 months after his exoneration, documents state.
He is demanding a jury trial.
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Kidd isn’t automatically eligible for compensation from the state of Missouri, which only provides relief in the form of $50 per day for post-conviction prison time in the event the individual is exonerated by DNA evidence. There is no compensation for non-DNA exonerations.
Kansas changed its law in 2018 to provide $65,000 per year of imprisonment and $25,000 per year on parole in the case of a wrongful conviction.
Kidd always maintained his innocence and had support for his release from a former member of the KCPD Board of Police Commissioners and prosecutor as far as 2016, but he wasn’t released until Aug. 15, 2019.
A UMKC law professor and some students in the law school worked on Kidd’s case along with the Midwest Innocence Project.
He has become an advocate for other wrongfully convicted individuals, police reform and transparency in the criminal justice system since being set free.
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Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect Kidd was wrongfully convicted by a jury.
