Source: Rodney White / RODNEY WHITE
A Michigan man who spent five years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit is suing Hertz rental cars for failing to provide a receipt that would have cleared him before he was convicted. In 2015, Herbert Alford was convicted in the 2011 murder of 23-year-old Michael Adams — even though he swore he was picking up a rental car at the time. However, the Hertz Corporation “ignored and disobeyed numerous court orders requiring them to produce the documentation” that would have exonerated him, his attorney writes. Hertz eventually came up with the receipt five years later — precipitating Alford’s release in February of last year. Alford is suing for $25,000.
For their part, Hertz officials claim they did their best to find the much-needed evidence. “While we were unable to find the historic rental record from 2011 when it was requested in 2015, we continued our good faith efforts to locate it,” a company spokesman says. “With advances in data search in the years following, we were able to locate the rental record in 2018 and promptly provided it.”
If Hertz came up with the receipt in 2018, why wasn’t Alford released until 2020? Should Alford also file a suit against the state?
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