John Montin Lawsuit: $23M Lawsuit Filed By ‘Sane’ Man Kept In Mental Hospital For 20 Years

John Montin filed a lawsuit against doctors, nurses, and others associated with the Lincoln Regional Center in Nebraska, after he was wrongfully locked up in a mental institution for 20 years. According to NewsMax, the lawsuit claims that doctors relied on police reports rather than testing Montin and diagnosing him themselves. Montin was released from the hospital in 2013 after a doctor found out the truth behind what had happened.

Dr. Edward Kelly, a psychiatrist at the center, found out that Montin suffered from a medication-induced psychosis caused by a prescription that he took for back problems. Montin was accused of walking up to house, saying that it had “belonged to his ancestors,” and that he was “taking it back.” Montin’s actions were not as a result of insanity at all, but due to the aforementioned psychosis (he was acquitted on a couple of other charges).

According to the report:

“After being charged with false imprisonment, use of a weapon, and other charges in 1993, Montin was determined by a jury to be not guilty by reason of insanity for two charges, and was found not guilty of several other charges.”

If John Montin wins the lawsuit, he could be awarded quite a large some of money (he is suing for $23 million) — but will that make up for the fact that he was hospitalized without proper cause? The 52-year-old has lost some of the best years of his life because he was wrongfully locked away. Now, he has a chance to make the most out of his life.

“The lawsuit says Mr Montin missed the opportunity to marry and have a family, as well as his mother’s funeral, because of the Lincoln Regional Center’s malpractice.”

Throughout the years, an attorney for Montin, Jon Braaten, had been petitioning doctors, hoping to get his client evaluated properly. Finally, the time for justice has arrived.

Braaten explained:

“We were just banging the drums, and they finally had to start listening. It was an injustice, and he was right from the beginning.”

John Montin filed the lawsuit in federal court last week according to News.com.au. The lawsuit names 21 former or current staff members from the Lincoln Regional Center. Since being released from the facility, Montin has returned to Florida, where he previously lived, but his life is very different than what it used to be.

This isn’t the only story of its kind, either. In a related report by The Inquisitr, a man who spent the past 25 years in prison walked away a free man earlier this year after he was wrongly convicted of murder. Jonathan Fleming is suing the state of New York for $162 million. Fleming was in Disney World when the murder that he was convicted of occurred back in N.Y.

[Photo courtesy of Tom Varco via Wikimedia Commons]