Two Kansas City, Kansas, men who were wrongfully imprisoned for nearly 16 years filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Thursday against the city and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, saying they were set up by former Police Detective Roger Golubski.
Cedric Warren, 35, and Domonique Moore, 41, who were released last December after a judge threw out their 2009 double murder conviction, said they were also set up by five other Kansas City, Kansas, Police officers in addition to Golubski.
Like a much-publicized case against another KCK man, Warren said he was railroaded by Golubski because his mother refused Golubski’s sexual advances and was protecting local drug dealers. Golubski died by suicide last December at the start of his federal trial on denying several women their civil rights through sexual assault and kidnapping.
After the charges were dropped last year, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree opted against refiling charges against Warren and Moore. Dupree said the men didn’t get a fair trial because a former county prosecutor withheld evidence.
“The justice system in Wyandotte County is unjust and unfair in more ways than anyone could ever imagine,” Warren said in a statement released by his attorneys. “I pray that this lawsuit shines light on these injustices. There are so many more voices and victims that are literally dying to be heard.”
The lawsuit’s claims include deprivation of due process, malicious prosecution, civil rights conspiracy, and the local government’s unconstitutional customs and policies. The two “suffered tremendous damage, including but not limited to physical harm, mental suffering, and loss of a normal life,” the suit said.
Prosecutors charged Warren and Moore with first- and second-degree murder for the fatal shootings of two men in a drug house. They were convicted on the account of a single eyewitness who had severe mental illness, including paranoid schizophrenia and delusions.
Under Golubski’s supervision, the witness finally falsely named Warren as the killer after he was in custody for 20 hours where police “used suggestion, pressure, and coercion,” the suit said.
The witness was then directly taken from the police station to a psychiatric institution, the suit said.
“I’m so happy for my freedom, but I want justice and accountability for the more than 15 years that the police stole from me when they framed me,” Moore said in a statement.
According to the lawsuit, Golubski arrived early to the crime scene in February 2009 and, without evidence, quickly inserted Warren’s name as the main suspect in the double murder. Golubski had a vendetta against Warren’s family, the suit said, because Kathy Warren, Cedric’s mother, rejected Golubski’s advances and then her husband threatened Golubski to stay away from his family.
“In retaliation and to assert his power, Golubski sought revenge on the Warren family and chose to pin the double homicide on the 18-year-old Mr. Warren, who Golubski had zero evidentiary basis to suspect was involved in the shooting,” the suit said.
The accusation is much like that found in the case of Lamonte McIntyre, a KCK man who spent 23 years wrongfully imprisoned and later settled a legal case for $12.5 million from the Unified Government.
Other police officers named in the lawsuit are detectives Bryan Block, Darren Koberlein, Randy Slater, Dion Dundovich and Capt. Bill Howard Jr. Golubski's son, Matthew Golubski, is also named.
