Man Cleared of Rape by DNA Evidence Plans to Sue

Claim sheriff's department refused to perform test

A Sapulpa, Okla., man who was held in jail for 84 days before DNA evidence cleared him in the brutal rape of his then-girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter plans to sue the Creek County Sheriff's Office for wrongful arrest.

Tommy Braden's attorney, Don Smolen, of Tulsa, sent notice earlier this month that they plan to take legal action for wrongful arrest and detention, which they allege was the result of the Sheriff's Office negligence.

"From day one he's begging them to do a DNA test," Smolen said. "They said they weren't going to do that because it was a waste of taxpayers' dollars."

Braden was arrested shortly after the April 6, 2012, rape and was not released until a defense attorney, Lowell Howe, got a judge to approve a DNA test which cleared him on July 3.