MOULTRIE, Ga. (WALB) - Sedrick Moore has filed a lawsuit after being wrongfully convicted to 23 years in prison for the a 1993 rape in Colquitt County.

Moore was originally sentenced to 25 years in prison for the rape of Pearlie McGee in February 1993 in Colquitt County.

In May 2023, Moore’s extraordinary motion was granted for retrial. However, in August of that year, the District Attorney motioned for Nolle Prosequi for all charges against him. The judge granted the order, and he was released.

Now, Moore is suing:

• Colquitt County
• The city of Moultrie
• Certain officers with the Moultrie Police Department, and the police department as a whole
• Certain employees with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the GBI as a whole

In the suit, it is alleged that the GBI DNA Analyst had a rape kit tested for Moore’s DNA and the results were “inconclusive.”

The suit says, “Despite these unclear results, Defendant Pearson testified at trial in front of the jury that Sedrick Moore’s DNA matched that found in the victim’s sexual assault kit." This is because, “In 2002, the GBI followed a policy directing agents to use language that is ‘suspect-centric.’ Meaning analysis will favor ‘non-exclusion’ when there is no clear information or the DNA result in inconclusive.”

Nine counts are listed in the suit:

1. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Fourteenth Amendment Deprivation of Liberty without Due Process of Law and Denial of a Fair Trial by Misrepresenting Evidence and Presenting Unreliable Witness Identification Testimony. (Against Law Enforcement Defendants, GBI, and Jason Bradley Pearson)
2. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Malicious Prosecution (Against Law enforcement defendants, Colquitt County, and Moultrie Police Dept.)
3. State Law Malicious Prosecution (Against the Moultrie Police Department and Law Enforcement Defendants)
4. State Law Violation of Legal Duty, O.C.G.A. § 51-1-6, et seq (Against all Defendants)
5. Intentional and Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (Against all Defendants)
6. Negligence (Against all Defendants)
7. Punitive and Exemplary Damages (Against all Defendants)
8. Monell Unconstitutional Policy, Custom, or Pattern and Practice of Promoting, Facilitating, or Condoning Improper, Illegal, and Unconstitutional Investigative Techniques, Providing False Forensic Testimony and Failure to Supervise, Discipline and Train Against Defendant City of Moultrie, Colquit County and GBI for the Actions and Omissions the Law Enforcement Defendants and Defendant Pearson
9. Attorney Fees and Costs (Against all Defendants)

Moore is asking for the following:

• A trial by jury on the 9 counts listed above
• Nominal, compensatory, special, and punitive damages to plaintiff against defendants in an amount to be proven at trial
• Plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and O.C.G.A. § 13-6-11
• Tax all costs of this action against Defendants
• Any “additional or alternative legal or equitable relief that is just and appropriate”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• 1993 Colquitt Co. rape case dismissed
• Man convicted in 1993 Colquitt Co. rape case awaits retrial

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