A federal judge has dismissed the City of Detroit and Wayne County from a wrongful prosecution suit brought by a man who spent more than a decade in prison for murder and arson, but allowed the case to proceed against the Detroit fire and police investigators accused of withholding and fabricating evidence that led to his conviction.

The suit was brought by Duane Lamar Smith against former Detroit Fire Department Captain Patrick McNulty, Detroit Police Sergeant Michael Russell and Detroit Police Investigator Donald Olsen, along with the City of Detroit and Wayne County.

The case arose out of an August 20, 2012, residential fire in Detroit that claimed the lives of Bobby Cross and Darryl Simms. Captain McNulty investigated the fire and initially classified its cause as undetermined.

Captain McNulty’s original seven-page fire report documented that “a Zippo Style lighter was found in the debris of the east end of the couch.” Two photographs reportedly showed the lighter in the debris at the point of origin. Based on the fire report, the medical examiner initially classified the deaths as accidental.

The investigation changed direction several months later after Gary Jennings was arrested on unrelated charges. Jennings told then-Detroit Police Sergeant Michael Russell that another man, DaShon Seabrooks, had provided information implicating Smith in the fire. Jennings claimed he subsequently spoke with Smith and that Smith confessed to setting the fire.

According to Smith’s civil suit, Sergeant Russell contacted the medical examiner in January 2013, after which the manner of death was changed from accidental to homicide. At some point, Captain McNulty’s original seven-page report was also changed. The modified report was six pages long and omitted any reference to the lighter and other smoking-related items found at the scene. The modified report was used at Smith’s preliminary examination and became part of the evidence used to establish probable cause to send the case to trial.

At Smith’s criminal trial, the prosecution maintained that Smith intentionally set the fire. According to the court, Smith alleges that Captain McNulty testified that his examination of the debris revealed no smoking materials. A jury convicted Smith of second-degree murder, felony murder and arson in September, 2013. He was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

According to the federal court, both versions of the fire report were in the prosecutor’s file, but only the modified six-page version of the fire report was provided to Smith’s defense. The scene photographs of the lighter not provided to either the prosecution or the defense.

Smith also claims other potentially exculpatory evidence was withheld at trial. Among that evidence was a statement from Seabrooks, the man Jennings claimed had originally implicated Smith. When interviewed before trial, Seabrooks reportedly said he did not know Jennings and knew nothing about Smith or the fire until an investigator asked him about them. That statement was not provided to Smith’s defense team.

The evidence concerning the fire itself began to emerge in 2021, when Smith’s attorneys obtained 58 previously undisclosed fire-scene photographs through Freedom of Information Act requests. Among them were the two photographs showing the Zippo-style lighter. The FOIA materials also revealed Captain McNulty’s original seven-page report.

The newly discovered evidence prompted a reexamination of the conclusions that had supported Smith’s conviction. Dr. Alecia Wilson, the medical examiner who testified at Smith’s trial, indicated that the manner of death should have been undetermined rather than homicide. Fire investigation expert Marc Fennell concluded that the fire should have remain classified as undetermined because there was insufficient evidence under NFPA 921 to classify it as intentionally set.

In June 2024, the director of the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit told the court that the errors and Brady violations in Smith’s case were significant enough to “undermine the integrity of the trial process.”

A state court judge vacated Smith’s convictions after concluding that the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence violated Smith’s due process rights under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). On October 17, 2024, prosecutors dismissed the criminal case. Smith had spent more than a decade in prison.

Smith subsequently brought suit asserting federal civil rights claims against Captain McNulty, Sergeant Russell and Investigator Olsen for withholding exculpatory evidence, fabrication of evidence, malicious prosecution, and conspiracy. He also asserted state-law claims for malicious prosecution and gross negligence, and sought to hold Detroit and Wayne County liable for the alleged constitutional violations.

On September 30, 2026, US District Court Judge Terrence Berg dismissed both municipal defendants. The City of Detroit was dismissed because Smith’s claim against the city was barred by the discharge resulting from Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Wayne County was dismissed because Smith had not sufficiently alleged that the constitutional violations resulted from a county policy or custom.

The ruling leaves Captain McNulty, Sergeant Russell and Investigator Olsen as defendants. Judge Berg also permitted Smith to amend his conspiracy claim and add a separate Section 1983 conspiracy claim against the three individual defendants.