A Maryland man is suing five former law enforcement officials, claiming misbehavior cost him his freedom, family, and future. He spent more than three decades behind bars, ten of those years on death row for a crime he did not commit.
Then-Governor Larry Hogan granted John Huffington, 62, a full pardon in January 2023, citing egregious prosecutorial misconduct in the handling of a double homicide in Harford County in 1981. Following the pardon, a state board last year under Governor Wes Moore authorized $2.9 million in compensation for Huffington.
Huffington said in a statement Thursday that the truth had surfaced after many, many agonizing years. He bemoaned the fact that both of his parents passed away before his name was cleared after being arrested at the age of 18. I lost everything during those years, including my relationships, the opportunity to start a family, the opportunity to be with my mother when she died, and valuable time spent with my father, who by the time I was released had Alzheimer’s.
Following 32 years of serving two life sentences, Huffington was eventually released from the Patuxent Institution in 2013. He had insisted on his innocence all along.
In what is commonly referred to as the Memorial Day Murders, Diane Becker was found stabbed inside her RV, although her small son was unhurt, and her boyfriend, Joseph Hudson, was shot and discovered close by. Another individual who was found guilty in the case served 27 years for testifying against Huffington.
Expert testimony asserting that hair found at the scene matched Huffington’s evidence—later refuted—was a crucial component of the prosecution’s case. The Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office never told Huffington’s defense that the FBI had created a study in 1999 that discredited the hair analysis, according to a 2011 Washington Post investigation. Years later, DNA testing verified that the hair was not Huffington’s.
A judge in Frederick County overturned his convictions and mandated a new trial in 2013. Joseph Cassilly, the state attorney for Harford County, was disbarred by Maryland’s highest court in 2021 for years of lying and suppressing exonerating evidence. Cassilly passed away in January after retiring in 2019 and denying any misconduct.
Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, his brother, defended him, stating that Joe was a devoted public servant and a decorated war veteran who was unable to defend himself. The majority of the defendants listed in this case are no longer alive, and the Harford County government had no involvement in their hiring.
Cassilly, assistant state’s attorney Gerard Comen, and three former sheriff’s office detectives—David Saneman, William Van Horn, and Wesley J. Picha—are named in the case, which was filed in federal court in Baltimore on July 15. Saneman is the only one who is still alive. When reached by The Washington Post, he refused to comment.
The lawsuit alleges that the former officials’ manufactured evidence, malicious prosecution, and failure to reveal exculpatory materials violated Huffington’s civil rights.
According to Huffington, this is about accountability. Their actions cost me everything, and the public should be aware of what was done in their name.
