A man who faced the death penalty for 19 years before charges were dismissed last year has now filed a federal lawsuit seeking $20 million from McMinn County for rights violations.
Gussie Vann is still in custody at the Morgan County Correctional Complex on other charges but has filed the lawsuit with local attorney Robin Flores against the county.
In the lawsuit Vann alleges that McMinn investigators denied him an attorney during lengthy questioning following the death of his 8-year-old daughter on July 31, 1992.
Reached by phone this afternoon, Flores said his client was devastated by what followed, much of it the responsibility of two investigators - Jerry Lynn Tate and Gary Cullins. Both Tate and Cullins have since died.
For more see tomorrow's Times Free Press