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SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge dismissed a civil rights lawsuit Thursday that an exonerated Orem man filed against the police who investigated the killing of his wife.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on one of Conrad Truman's claims and that there wasn't adequate evidence for a jury to find in his favor on others.
Truman argued in a 152-page lawsuit that the Orem police arrested, investigated and incarcerated him based on "misleading, false and outright fabricated evidence" alleging that he murdered his wife, Heidy Truman, 25, and then lied to police about killing her.
"Moreover, there is no evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that defendant manufactured, fabricated, or withheld material evidence," Stewart wrote.
Truman was convicted and later exonerated of the murder after spending four years behind bars.
A jury in 2014 convicted Truman of fatally shooting his wife in their Orem home. He maintained throughout the first trial and at his sentencing that he was innocent. The conviction was overturned in August after Truman argued inaccurate crime scene evidence taken by police influenced the verdict.
Related:
Jury finds Conrad Truman guilty of killing his wife
After more than 15 hours of deliberation, a jury Wednesday found Conrad Mark Truman guilty of killing his wife, Heidy Truman, in 2012.The couple had been home watching television and drinking whiskey on Sept. 30, 2012, the night that Heidy died. At one point the couple bickered, according to Truman, though not about anything consequential. Police responded to a frantic 911 call from Truman, who leveled threats against arriving officers and first responders if they didn't save his wife.
Heidy Truman died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Truman insisted that he heard a popping noise that night before turning to see his wife collapse from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Truman's lawsuit sought an unspecified amount of damages, including violation of his constitutional rights, emotional distress, suffering, humiliation and other financial losses.
