Ohio man wins $1.3 million settlement after he was wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years: 'Keep fighting'
Ohio man Ralph Blaine Smith, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years, won a $1.3 million settlement from the state last week. (WSYX)
An Ohio man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years won a $1.3 million settlement from the state last week for a crime that he not only didn't commit, but which evidence suggests might not have happened at all.
Ralph Blaine Smith, 49, was first imprisoned when he was 24 for an alleged armed home invasion and robbery in Pickerington in 2000, according to local ABC affiliate WSYX.
Smith's attorney Joseph Landusky told the outlet that his client's first defense attorney more than two decades ago was not provided sufficient evidence that could have proven his innocence.
"He was sentenced to 67 years in prison for a crime that was not even committed by anyone," Landusky said of Smith. "When first responders showed up, there were no footprints in the snow. It had recently snowed. There was a dog barking right next door when they pulled up, the neighbors said no dog had barked in the last hour."
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Ralph Blaine Smith won a $1.3 million settlement from the state of Ohio after he was wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years. (WSYX)
The incident report noted there were also no tire tracks, and Landusky said the scene made investigators believe the crime had not occurred.
According to the original handwritten 2000 incident report obtained by WSYX, an investigating officer wrote, "Upon arrival, we secured the outer perimeter, noting a lack of fresh footprints in the snow, before making tactical entry."
"The house was gone through too selectively for my taste," the officer also wrote at the time.
Smith eventually won his freedom after a prosecutor asked a judge to dismiss his case. After spending 21 years in jail, Smith was moved to tears when he was released on July 4, 2021.
The original handwritten incident report noted "a lack of fresh footprints in the show" around the alleged crime scene. (WSYX)
Smith told the outlet that he spent much of his time in prison studying law in an effort to prove his own innocence.
"I fought hard studying case law, reading the law books, just being there for hours and hours," he said. "That was my time. It was like I got to go to the law library. Every day, that’s what it was for years."
Smith's lawyer Joseph Landusky said his client's first attorney was not provided sufficient evidence to defend him. (WSYX)
"How can you replace 21 years in prison?" Landusky asked. "You can't. If I offered you $50 million to go to prison now and get out in 21 years, there’s no amount of money that I could give you that you would do that."
Smith said his incarceration helped him to appreciate life and not sweat the small stuff.
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"To be grateful to wherever you’re at in life, to keep fighting," Smith said of what he learned. "Small things don’t bother me. I don’t let it get to me, because I’m happy that I’m out here to be able to experience it."
