LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in 1997 says those charges should be thrown out because of a crooked cop that investigated the case.
Keith West was accused of murdering two men in west Louisville back in 1992. The lead investigator on the case was former detective Mark Handy. But West said he was innocent. He said he shot the men because they had kidnapped him and were planning to rape him.
In court on Thursday, arguments began to clear West's record of the charges from the incident based upon Handy's handling of the case.
West spent seven years in prison before prosecutors altered the charges to manslaughter, but those are still on West's record.
Keith West says he was framed for killing two men in cold blood by a former Louisville detective.
Several witnesses in that case took the stand in downtown Louisville on Thursday. They testified that Handy altered their recorded statements made shortly after the shooting occurred. Attorneys for West said Handy ignored evidence that could have exonerated him and didn't tell prosecutors about it.
"Keith West has waited nearly three decades for this moment, where he can present evidence to his innocence that he knows was withheld from him when he was forced to take an Alford Plea in 1997," said Elliot Slosar, West's attorney.
Handy was indicted in September and accused of lying during the 1995 murder trial of Edwin Chandler. Chandler spent nine years in prison for the murder he didn't commit. He was exonerated in 2012, and Louisville Metro Government went on to pay him $8.5 million in a settlement.
Judge Olu Stevens will ultimately decide if those manslaughter charges should be taken off West's record.
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