A Michigan federal judge has denied summary judgment to a retired Oakland County detective and a former state police polygraph examiner accused of helping wrongfully convict two brothers who spent 25 years in prison for first-degree murder before their convictions were vacated four years ago.

In a Tuesday opinion and order, U.S. District Judge Shalina D. Kumar said George and Melvin DeJesus had amassed enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Chester Romatowski falsified a polygraph report to make key witness Brandon Gohagen appear truthful, and whether former Oakland County sheriff's detective William Harvey suppressed handwritten notes that bolstered the brothers' alibis.

The brothers' polygraph evidence was sufficient to create a triable issue on fabrication, Judge Kumar said, adding that the conclusion was "unquestionably at odds with any accepted numerical evaluation methods" and that the error was so fundamental it "strongly suggests that the test result was deliberately misrepresented."

The DeJesus brothers were sentenced to life without the possibility parole in connection with the rape and murder of their neighbor Margaret Midkiff in 1997. After their convictions were vacated in March 2022, the brothers filed a civil rights suit against Harvey and Romatowski claiming they fabricated evidence that led to their wrongful imprisonment.

Harvey and Romatowski said they relied on an eyewitness account from Gohagen, who was friends with the DeJesus brothers. Gohagen told Harvey that he raped Midkiff because the DeJesus brothers forced him but that they were the ones who killed her.

Gohagen was offered a plea deal that required him to submit to a polygraph examination to prove that his accounts were factual, but the results were found to be inconclusive. However, prosecutors were told Gohagen passed the polygraph exam.

In the course of overturning the DeJesus brothers' convictions, the Michigan Attorney General's Conviction Integrity Unit found new evidence including additional alibi support, questions about the polygraph analysis and evidence that Gohagen had committed another rape and murder.

Gohagen was convicted in 2017 for the rape and murder of another woman, which happened 11 months prior to Midkiff's death. The cases, the opinion said, bore a striking resemblance to each other.

Judge Kumar rejected the defense's argument that the alleged exam fabrication could not have affected the verdict in the DeJesus case because the polygraph itself was never shown to the jury.

Citing testimony from the prosecutor in the case, Judge Kumar said a jury could find that the report was essential because prosecutors would not have moved forward unless they were convinced Gohagen was telling the truth.

Without the report, there may have been no prosecution at all, the opinion said.

On the Brady claim, the court found the brothers had presented enough circumstantial evidence for a jury to conclude Harvey possessed and failed to turn over handwritten notes from 1995 witness interviews that supported the brothers' alibis and could have been used to charge Gohagen.

The opinion said the notes were later found in the Oakland County Sheriff's Office file, and it said a reasonable jury could infer Harvey received and reviewed them when his office took over the case.

The opinion also preserved the brothers' federal and state malicious prosecution claims, finding fact issues remained over how Harvey and Romatowski influenced the charging decision and whether probable cause existed without Gohagen's testimony.

There was no physical evidence tying the brothers to the crime, the opinion said, with Gohagen's testimony being the only evidence implicating them.

Judge Kumar said the brothers also may continue pursuing a civil conspiracy claim, rejecting the defense's contention that plaintiff's counsel had already agreed to dismiss it. The court found that no formal stipulation was ever entered.

Harvey and Romatowski are not entitled to qualified immunity, Judge Kumar said, citing the law clearly established by the 1990s that officials could not fabricate incriminating evidence or withhold exculpatory material.

"They're elated the judge saw it their way," said Wolfgang Mueller of Mueller Law Firm, who represents the DeJesus brothers. "We're looking forward to a trial date because they waited long enough to be vindicated."

A trial date has yet to be set.

"Somebody needs to be held accountable for two guys losing 50 years of their lives," Mueller said. 

The defense counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

The DeJesus brothers are represented by Wolfgang Mueller and John W. Martin Jr. of Mueller Law Firm.

Harvey and Romatowski are represented by Robert C. Clark, Layla Sizemore, Steven M. Potter and Trevor S. Potter of Potter DeAgostino & Clark.

The case is DeJesus et al. v. Harvey et al., case number 2:22-cv-12879, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

--Editing by Rich Mills.

Update: This article has been updated with comment from counsel for the DeJesus brothers.