CUYAHOGA COUNTY — A local criminal defense attorney is requesting a new trial for her client after she claimed her client did not receive a fair process due to a romantic relationship she alleged took place between the state’s key witness and then investigating detective, who is now East Cleveland’s Police Chief Kevin Lundy.
“If the state is hiding the fact that the detective and the state’s main witness are engaged in a sexually exploitative relationship, and they withhold that information from the defense, that’s a conviction that lacks integrity and it can’t stand,” said Kimberly Kendall Corral.
This new development came after Corral said her client, Jerry Sims Jr., was convicted of aggravated murder in 2019 and was sentenced to 40-and-a-half years to life in prison. It led her to file a 43-page post-conviction petition earlier this month.
Corral alleged the state’s key witness, who was then Sims’ girlfriend, was subjected to sexually exploitative and physically abusive conduct by now East Cleveland Police Chief Kevin Lundy, who was then lead detective for the state, during the homicide investigation and trial proceedings.
“My client is convicted for a murder he did not do. Even if you look at the court documents, there isn’t any physical, forensic, or scientific evidence,” said Corral. “There’s nothing that links my client to the case except for this one witnesses’ testimony.”
In the documents, Corral accuses the state of governmental failure to disclose material favorable evidence, which invalidates the testimony of numerous key witnesses for the state.
The post-conviction petition even claims that the witness was induced to offer knowingly false testimony as the result of fear-based intimidation, undisclosed benefits offered by the detective, sexual exploitation, and other misconduct.
“Essentially after that first interview Kenneth Lundy began a long con, inspiring her to be afraid. The defendant in the case, my client, was her boyfriend at the time, and based on her testimony, even at the time of trial, she had never before had a reason to be afraid of him,” said Corral.
Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office Communications Manager Lexi Bauer, sent the following statement:
“With respect to the allegation that Lundy engaged in a sexual relationship before and during the trial with the State’s eyewitness, there is no allegation or indication that the prosecutors assigned to the case were aware of that relationship. When the office was made aware of the allegation earlier this month, an investigator immediately spoke with now Chief Lundy, who denied having any relationship with the witness before trial. The allegation made in the defendant’s filing is serious and the office is diligently investigating it. Because the State has not yet filed a response to the filing, it would be premature to comment publicly any further.”
“Mr. Sims without question is entitled to a new, fair and constitutional trial. What happened here is unjustifiable. It’s appalling, and the state knew or should’ve known,” Corral said.
News 5 has reached out to Lundy and the attorney representing the state’s key witness, but they have yet to respond to our request.
In the meantime, the prosecutor’s office is required to file a responsive brief to this petition by January 31st.
