Columbia man acquitted in arson trial files lawsuit against city, police, prosecutor

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man who was acquitted two years ago in an arson case has sued the City of Columbia, Columbia Police Department and the Boone County prosecutor.

Mehrdad Fotoohighiam was accused of arson. He was acquitted in 2019. The lawsuit also lists Jennifer Wilson, Scott Christopher, Ali Rastkar and Marcia Green -- the woman authorities say was the victim of arson -- as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that Fotoohighiam was wrongfully incarcerated from 2017 to 2022 for the arson case and another in which he was accused of conspiring to murder his wife. He won acquittal in that case in 2022.

The petition filed this week alleges the defendants deprived Fotoohighiam of due process by withholding material and fabricating evidence and violating his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Court documents filed on Wednesday claim that Fotoohighiam was wrongfully imprisoned for several years after Green’s mobile home was burned down. The lawsuit claims that investigators did not “properly interview or investigate” Green and other witnesses.

Court documents allege that Green and other defendants worked together to set fire to her property and lied to investigators. Documents claim that Green made “many contradictory statements including how she received flash fire burns on the top of her hands, where she was located when the fire began, and how the fire spread,” and that she wasn’t investigated. Damages in court documents include a $5 million cash only bond that Fotoohighiam paid.

Authorities allege Fotoohighiam hired his employee, James Hall, to burn down Green's mobile home in a property dispute. Hall was also acquitted.