CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge has declared three exonerated men once convicted and sentenced to death in a 1975 Cleveland slaying to have been wrongfully imprisoned, opening the door for them to receive millions of dollars in compensation.
The ruling allows Wiley Bridgeman, Ricky Jackson and Kwame Ajamu to file cases in the Ohio Court of Claims. The Plain Dealer reports that under Ohio law, wrongfully imprisoned former inmates can be paid more than $40,000 for each year they were incarcerated.
The three men were exonerated last year. Ajamu was released from prison in 2003. Bridgeman and Jackson were released in November after nearly 40 years behind bars.
The case against them fell apart when the prosecutor’s key witness — a then-13-year-old-boy — recanted his testimony.
- Posted February 18, 2015
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Ruling allows exonerated men to file claims
headlines Macomb
- Working to help restore no-fault safeguards
- Nessel announces new DAG opioid settlement website
- Experts to discuss AI, privacy, pregnancy post-Dobbs and more at ABA meeting
- MSHDA Board approves modification to Housing and Community Development Fund in March meeting
- Visa, Mastercard settle long-running antitrust suit over swipe fees with merchants
headlines National
- 50 Years of Service: ABA has been a ‘stalwart ally’ for LSC funding
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Biden recalls time he bluffed knowledge of torts case and why he changed his mind about civil-trial work
- Lawyers’ ‘barrage of personal attacks’ on opponents started with tissue-box toss, appeals court says
- Longtime prosecutor resigns after judge tosses him from case, citing Perry Mason-type revelations
- 24% of law students expect to work in public service, survey says