Miami Township in Ohio is facing bankruptcy after a man who was wrongly convicted and spent 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit won a staggering $45 million judgment. Dean Gillispie (above) wants the massive check from Miami Township and its police department after he was wrongly convicted of rape and kidnapping. The township says paying up could force them into bankruptcy, leaving 31,000 residents to bear the cost of one detective’s misconduct. Gillispie won the crushing judgment in 2022 when a jury found that former detective Matthew Scott Moore had violated Gillispie's rights by hiding evidence and rigging witness lineups. Since then, the township has been racking up interest on the unpaid settlement while desperately fighting the massive bill in court, though the appeals have failed. In May, a 3-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Gillispie and refused to lower the massive amount. Now the township is making a last-ditch plea for the full Sixth Circuit Court to weigh in on the case that could destroy their future. Declaring bankruptcy has never been attempted by an Ohio township and would require approval from the state tax commissioner.
