BOON TOWNSHIP, Michigan — A man
who spent five years in prison for a wrongful arson conviction has sued a
northern Michigan county, three sheriff's deputies and a state trooper.
Forty-year-old Victor Caminata
was convicted in 2008 of burning a house in Wexford County's Boon Township
where he lived with his girlfriend and children. It's near Cadillac.
The University of Michigan law
school's Innocence Clinic found arson experts who concluded an improperly
installed wood stove caused the fire.
A judge overturned the
conviction last July.
Caminata filed a federal
lawsuit Feb. 28, saying the county and officers violated his constitutional
rights against false arrest and for due process by withholding evidence that
could have cleared him.
The county denies Caminata's
rights were violated, while the state says the trooper has immunity in the
case.