LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A woman who claimed Louisville police framed her for a 2006 murder as a teenager has settled a wrongful conviction lawsuit with the city for $2.9 million.
Johnetta Carr claimed in a lawsuit filed Dec. 2020 that she was 16 when police accused her of murdering her boyfriend and that during the course of the investigation, detectives fabricated and coerced witnesses into saying that she was involved with his murder.
On June 9, the city agreed to pay Carr $2.9 million, though did not admit any fault, according to the agreement obtained Thursday by WDRB News under the open records law.
Planes Adolphe, Carr's boyfriend at the time, was found strangled to death on October 23, 2005, outside of his Louisville apartment on Kingston Ave. His wallet and cab that he drove for work was stolen. He was 36.
Detectives arrested Carr and charged her with murder in January 2006. She was indicted as an adult in April 2006.
In May 2008, Carr entered an Alford plea to second-degree manslaughter in the case meaning she maintained her innocence but acknowledged that prosecutors could convict her.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was released on parole in December 2009.
Carr was pardoned by former Gov. Matt Bevin in December 2019. Her parole was completed in 2018.
Bevin’s pardon restored her rights as a citizen and noted that Carr was a good person and “God clearly has his hand on her.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, claimed the lead detective in the case, Tony Finch, coerced a co-defendant in the case to admit that Carr was involved in the murder. According to the suit, the co-defendant, Carla Sowers, almost immediately recanted the statement.
The lawsuit also claims that a jailhouse informant told police that Carr committed the murder but also later recanted the statement.
Civil rights attorney Elliot Slosar, who is representing Carr, has argued Carr had a strong alibi in the case that included witnesses saying she was spending the night at a friend's when Adolphe was murdered
This was the second wrongful conviction suit filed against Finch. In 2012, Kerry Porter filed suit claiming Finch mishandled his case in which he was charged with murder. Ultimately, the case was settled for $7.5 million.
More Coverage:
Kentucky bill proposes compensation for people wrongfully convicted of a crime
Exonerees push for wrongful conviction compensation fund in Kentucky
Woman sues Louisville police claiming she was wrongfully convicted of 2005 murder
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