| Charles "C.J." Rice, a Philadelphia exoneree freed this year after his case received national attention, is suing the city and Philadelphia police over his wrongful conviction. The big picture: Rice, 30, is one of more than four dozen people exonerated in Philadelphia since 2016, per the federal lawsuit filed last month. - Many of the convictions were overturned because of allegations of police misconduct.
Driving the news: Rice is suing for the "tremendous damage" he suffered while imprisoned for 12 years, including physical injuries and emotional distress. - He claims his constitutional rights were violated and his future was "derailed" after he was arrested for attempted murder as a teenager in 2011, per the suit.
- He's seeking an unspecified amount in damages and punitive action against the officers, some of whom have since retired.
The other side: The city and police department declined Axios' requests for comment. Context: Police said Rice and co-defendant Tyler Linder were involved in a retaliatory shooting in Point Breeze in 2011, three weeks after Rice was shot and seriously wounded. - Witnesses couldn't initially identify the shooters but said they ran away from the scene.
- Rice's lawsuit says police used suggestive tactics that eventually led witnesses to wrongly identify Rice and Linder as the shooters.
- Rice was convicted at trial and sentenced to 30-60 years. Linder was acquitted after surveillance footage established his "airtight alibi," per the suit.
⚖️ The latest: A judge overturned Rice's conviction last year, finding that he did not have adequate counsel at trial. - Prosecutors dropped charges to retry Rice in court, acknowledging there wasn't much evidence linking him to the crime.
- The conviction's overturning came after CNN's Jake Tapper wrote a story for The Atlantic that detailed a lack of physical evidence against Rice and his inability to carry out the crime.
- Plus, his attorney's trial strategy proved to be "dangerously incompetent," Tapper wrote.
Between the lines: Rice had said that he was at his godmother's house when the shooting occurred. - But detectives refused to interview one of Rice's family members who could've established his alibi, which "short-circuited the process," per the lawsuit.
- Later at trial, Rice's attorney failed to subpoena phone records that could've supported his alibi, Tapper wrote.
Zoom out: Philadelphia has paid millions of dollars to settle police misconduct claims dating back decades. Go deeper | 
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