BLUEFIELD — A man is suing the Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for gender discrimination.
Mark S. Neuman received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while women with similar cases only received some type of probation or a plea ot a lesser degree of homicide, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Neuman claims he was first incarcerated in 1985 and was released nearly 33 years later in 2018. He was arrested in 1985 for the killing of David A. Reid at Concord University, which was then Concord College, in Mercer Couunty and indicted for first-degree murder by a grand jury.
In November 1985, Reid and neuman were in a fight and while he had Reid on the ground, Reid's friend stabbed Neuman in the back a dozen times and punctured his lung, according to the suit.
Neuman began carrying a pistol with him at all times after that and one evening, Reid came running at the plaintiff with a yard dart tip and fearing injury, Neuman shot Reid with the pistol in self defense. He claims he was never offered a plea and was convicted of first-degree murder.
Neuman was sentenced to a life sentence with the possibility of parole on Nov. 22, 1988. He attempted several times over the years to have his sentence reduced or for a new trial, but they were always denied.
The plaintiff alleges that when it comes to homicide cases in Mercer County, the courts do not treat women the same way.
"If the homicide cases have similar scenarios and the men and women have similar men's rea, the men should receive equal treatment/protection, equal to what the women receive," the complaint states.
Neuman claims instead, women are allowed to plead to lesser degrees of homcide and have received lesser sentences.
Neuman is seeking compensatory compensatory damages in the amount of $32 million — $1 million for each year he was incarcerated and $100 million in punitive damages. He is represented by Dana P. McDermott in Martinsburg.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 1:22-cv-00280