A federal judge has said he will not dismiss allegations of police racism and prosecutorial malfeasance in a civil rights lawsuit filed by a Redmond man held in the King County Jail for nine years before he was acquitted for the 2008 rape and murder of a 24-year-old woman.
U.S. District Judge John Chun, in a ruling issued Thursday, said evidence and arguments presented by attorneys for Emanuel Fair could support his claim that racism motivated police to target him for the rape and murder of Arpana Jinaga to the exclusion of other viable suspects, and that King County prosecutors were negligent in pursuing the case.
Jinaga's killing is the topic of the true-crime podcast, "Suspect."
Fair claims police did not have probable cause to arrest or charge him, and alleges in his lawsuit that he was singled out because he was the only Black man at a Halloween party Jinaga hosted in her apartment the night she was killed.
Chun's ruling points out, based on the pleadings, that police found DNA from three other men on key pieces of evidence, including the boot lace used to strangle her and on a motor-oil can and bathrobe tied to the crime scene. The pleadings say police also found DNA from Jinaga's white male neighbor, who was seen at the front door of her apartment just hours before she was killed, near her body.
"I'm relieved," Fair said in a statement Friday. "I know this case is not over, but I've been waiting so long for someone to hear me. I'd pretty much given up hope, but this court is listening. Maybe some justice will finally come."
The complaint alleges that Fair's DNA was in such minute quantities that it had to be sent to a special laboratory to identify it, and his complaint questions the validity of that conclusion. Fair acknowledged he had been at the party and said he helped clean up, which would explain its presence.
The day police believe Jinaga was killed — but two days before her body was found — the neighbor reportedly attempted to cross into Canada without a passport, according to court documents. Chun's ruling noted evidence showing the neighbor injured himself at another party in "a way that seemed fake and odd," but that allowed him to explain wounds that would have been consistent with injuries sustained during a sexual assault.
The lawsuit alleges police and prosecutors cherry-picked DNA and other evidence that incriminated Fair in a strategy that involved "finding facts to fit the theory."
There were dozens of people at Jinaga's party that night, but Redmond detectives quickly focused their efforts on Fair, according to pleadings. The reason, Fair claims, was his race and a record that included a 2004 conviction for statutory rape.
The case was overseen and the charges filed by Redmond police Detective Brian Coats, who the lawsuit alleges had never handled a complex homicide case before. Coats is now a captain.
As for Fair's criminal history, Coats reportedly said, "If you've done it before, you'll do it again."
"[Fair] contrasts how investigators questioned him (in an "unmarked car" without advising him of his constitutional rights) with how they interviewed [the neighbor], who was accompanied in the interrogation room by his father and attorney, was offered immunity during certain sessions, and was allowed at times to provide crucial information while the camera was turned off," the judge pointed out.
The lawsuit alleges Redmond consulted a "psychic medium" during the investigation.
Chun ruled he would not dismiss Fair's claims against Coats and Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Baird — who oversaw the case and advised the detective — but he did dismiss several others from the lawsuit.
Fair wasn't arrested for nearly two years after the killing. He was jailed and held on $5 million bond.
He was tried initially in 2017, where the jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of acquittal, according to court documents. Prosecutors brought the case again in 2019, and the jury acquitted.
His family was unable to raise bail, and Fair ended up being one of the longest held pretrial detainees ever at the King County Jail. In his lawsuit, Fair alleges he was mistreated by guards and kept in isolation much of that time.
In a claim filed with King County before he sued, Fair demanded $22 million in damages.
