A historic $75m (£53m) settlement awarded to two North Carolina brothers incarcerated for more than three decades over a crime they did not commit ha

Does a $75m settlement make up for three decades in prison?

submited by
Style Pass
2021-05-23 14:30:07

A historic $75m (£53m) settlement awarded to two North Carolina brothers incarcerated for more than three decades over a crime they did not commit has brought the issue of wrongful convictions back into the limelight.

Henry McCollum and his half-brother Leon Brown were twice convicted for the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. In 2014, the emergence of new DNA evidence led to their exoneration and full pardons the following year.

On Friday, they received $31m in damages each - $1m for every year spent in prison - and $13m in punitive damages. The payout represents the largest combined settlement in a wrongful conviction case in US history, according to the brothers' lawyers.

"I thank God," said Mr McCollum, in tears, as he left the courtroom with his brother, nearly seven years after a judge ordered the state to free them.

"There's still a lot of innocent people in prison today," Mr McCollum said. "And they don't deserve to be there."

Leave a Comment