Woman wrongfully imprisoned in 1976 murder sues Reno, Washoe County

The woman who served more than 35 years in prison for the 1976 murder of a college student she didn't commit, filed a lawsuit against the city of Reno, Washoe County and former law enforcement officers and others on Monday.

Cathy Woods was exonerated in September 2014 in the murder of Michelle Mitchell after DNA evidence found on a cigarette butt left at the scene matched someone else. She was then granted a new trial, but six months later, the state dismissed all charges against her. Woods is one of the longest-serving women to be wrongfully convicted and then exonerated in United States history, according to the National Registry of Exonerations database.

In her lawsuit, Woods says she was framed so that authorities could close the case four decades ago. She's now seeking unspecified damages that will be determined by a federal court in Reno.

The DNA from the cigarette butt that cleared Woods of the murder matched a man named Rodney L. Halbower, who faces charges in the Gypsy Hill slayings, a string of murders in the Bay area in the late 1970s.

Read more: http://www.rgj.com/story/news/crime/2016/08/22/woman-wrongfully-imprisoned-1976-murder-sues-reno-washoe-county/89126070/