Bobby DiCello Secures Freedom for Wrongfully Incarcerated Cleveland Man

Bobby DiCello fought relentlessly to exonerate and free Juan Taylor of Cleveland, Ohio, who spent two agonizing years in jail due to baseless allegations of arson and attempted murder. Now, Bobby is seeking to further correct this injustice through a civil suit to hold accountable those responsible for Taylor’s wrongful incarceration.

In July 2019, major fires broke out at a Cuyahoga County Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) complex in Cleveland, Ohio. No one was injured, but CMHA police accused Juan Taylor of intentionally setting fire to the apartment buildings, one of which was occupied by his three children and girlfriend. Even without any credible evidence to support their arrest of Taylor, CMHA police charged him with a series of heinous crimes, including the attempted murder of his own children. From day one, Taylor proclaimed his innocence.

Following an extensive investigation, Bobby proved the case against Taylor was a sham, revealing that officers deliberately created inaccurate summaries of witness statements that falsely placed Taylor at the scene of the fires. In fact, every witness denied identifying Taylor as the culprit, and at the time of his arrest, Taylor provided a solid alibi witness that police ignored, and he supplied cellphone data—which was eventually “lost” or destroyed by police—showing he was nowhere near the fire.

Despite facing the prospect of spending the rest of his adult life in prison, Taylor refused to plead to any of the bogus charges. Under resolute pressure from Bobby and with no legitimate evidence connecting Taylor to the crime, prosecutors dismissed CMHA’s entire case against him.

In early 2023, Bobby filed a civil suit alleging the arson investigator and detective falsified information to bring charges against Taylor. Though he will never get back the nearly two years he spent in jail, the civil suit seeks to restore Taylor’s faith in a system of justice that let him sit in jail for that painful time.