Search | Wrongly Convicted

Exonerated Texas Prisoner Entitled to $1.68 Million After 22 Years of Wrongful Incarceration

Article • May 1, 2026 • from PLN May, 2026

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, Failure to Consult/Investigate/Raise, Expert and Opinion Testimony

Exonerated Texas Prisoner Entitled to $1.68 Million After 22 Years of Wrongful Incarceration by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman After more than two decades of wrongful incarceration, Texas state prisoner Carmen Mejia, 54, was exonerated and released from the Travis County Correctional Complex by the state Department of Criminal Justice …

Michigan Claws Back $1.2 Million Paid to Wrongfully Convicted Former Prisoner

Article • February 1, 2026 • from PLN February, 2026

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity, Forensic Sciences, Fabrication of Evidence

was awarded under the state’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA), MCL 691.1751 et seq. Ricks was 51 in June 2017 when he was exonerated and released from prison, after serving 24 years and 226 ...

Exonerated Former Prisoner Wins Election for Chief Record Keeper in New Orleans

Article • January 1, 2026 • from PLN January, 2026

Filed under: Prisoner Legal Assistance, Juries, Public Records, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Exonerated Former Prisoner Wins Election for Chief Record Keeper in New Orleans by On November 15, 2025, a man who was once serving a life sentence for murder was elected as the chief record keeper for New Orlean’s criminal court. Calvin Duncan, 62, spent 28 years in prison before winning …

Sixth Circuit Upholds $45 Million Verdict for  Wrongfully Convicted Former Ohio Prisoner

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Sixth Circuit Upholds $45 Million Verdict for Wrongfully Convicted Former Ohio Prisoner by Chuck Sharman A $45 million wrongful conviction award to an exonerated Ohio prisoner was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on May 2, 2025. Miami Township and its Police Department (MTPD) had …

Fourth Circuit Revives Wrongful Conviction Claim of Exonerated Maryland Prisoner, State Pays Him $3.1 Million

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

a writ of actual innocence. That allowed him to collect nearly $3.1 million from a state wrongful imprisonment fund in 2024. Washington was 25 when he was accused of fatally shooting Faheem “Bobo ...

Two Exonerated Illinois Prisoners Win Settlements  Totaling $14.5 Million

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Two Exonerated Illinois Prisoners Win Settlements Totaling $14.5 Million by Chuck Sharman A pair of former Illinois prisoners, each exonerated after spending 23 years behind bars for crimes they did not commit, accepted a total of $14.5 million in settlements from the City of Rockford, which voted in April 2025 …

$12 Million for Former California Prisoner  Exonerated After 17 Years

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Coercive Interrogations

Attorney Jeff Rosen opened a reinvestigation, eventually joining a habeas corpus petition filed for the prisoner. In 2019, after 17 years of wrongful imprisonment, Rubalcalva was freed and obtained a finding ...

$7.75 Million Settlement for Exonerated North Carolina Prisoner

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

$7.75 Million Settlement for Exonerated North Carolina Prisoner by David M. Reutter The city of Durham, North Carolina agreed on May 20, 2024, to pay $7.75 million to resolve the wrongful conviction claim of exonerated prisoner Darryl Howard. He spent almost 24 years in prison before a federal jury agreed …

$13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Massachusetts Prisoner  for Wrongful Conviction

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

$13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Massachusetts Prisoner for Wrongful Conviction by David M. Reutter In November 2024, a Massachusetts jury awarded $13 million to former state prisoner Michael Sullivan, 64, as compensation for his wrongful conviction for a 1986 armed robbery and murder. Sullivan’s case involved false laboratory test results, …

Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction

Article • February 15, 2025 • from PLN February, 2025

Filed under: Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Murder/Felony Murder

Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The City of Philadelphia agreed on November 3, 2023, to pay $9.1 million to settle a wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by Walter Ogrod, 59, a former state prisoner exonerated of murder and released …

Exonerated Prisoner Sues New York City for 16 Years of Wrongful Incarceration

Article • July 1, 2024 • from PLN July, 2024

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

rights when they railroaded him into a murder conviction of which he was later exonerated. The suit seeks $50 million in compensation for 16 years of wrongful imprisonment that followed. Jimenez ...

Williams v. Ritchey, FL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction, 2024

Filing • April 17, 2024

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Hypnotically Refreshed Memory, Brady Rule violations, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose

being. 84. During his nearly 45 years of wrongful imprisonment, Mr. Williams was detained in harsh and dangerous conditions in maximum- 18 Case 3:24-cv-00367 Document 1 Filed 04/17/24 Page 19 of 40 ...

Williams v. Ritchey, FL, Complaint, Wrongful Conviction, 2024

Brief • April 17, 2024

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Hypnotically Refreshed Memory, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose

being. 84. During his nearly 45 years of wrongful imprisonment, Mr. Williams was detained in harsh and dangerous conditions in maximum- 18 Case 3:24-cv-00367 Document 1 Filed 04/17/24 Page 19 of 40 ...

Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner

Article • March 1, 2024 • from PLN March, 2024

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Brady Violations, Evidence - Failure to Disclose

Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner by The state of Michigan has agreed to pay former prisoner Jeff Titus, 71, a total of $1.03 million for nearly 21 years he spent incarcerated for killing two hunters before his convictions were overturned. Titus, who consistently maintained his innocence, then …

Wrongfully Imprisoned for 26 Years, Chicago Brothers Sue Cop Who Framed Them

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Wrongful Imprisonment, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence, False Statements, Testimony or Documents

to $200,000 each in state compensation for their wrongful imprisonment. With the aid of attorneys from Loevy & Loevy in Chicago, they have also filed a civil rights suit in federal court for the Northern ...

Estate of Lavell R. Jones v. State of New York, NY, Decision, Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment, 2023

Brief • October 27, 2023

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment

Estate of Lavell R. Jones v. State of New York, NY, Decision, Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment, 2023 FILED STATE OF NEW YORK COURT OF CLAIMS ESTATE OF LAVELL R. JONES, SAKINA M. MITCHELL AND TADRE R. JONES AS CO-ADMINISTRATORS, OCT 2 7 2023 STATE COURT OF CLAIMS ALBANY, N.Y. Claimant, …

Wrongly Imprisoned for Killing Oregon Prison Director, Frank Gable Finally Fully Freed

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: Prison/Jail Murders, Wrongful Imprisonment, Actual Innocence/Claim of Innocence

Wrongly Imprisoned for Killing Oregon Prison Director, Frank Gable Finally Fully Freed by On May 12, 2023, the federal court for the District of Oregon dismissed the murder indictment against Frank Gable, who was wrongfully imprisoned nearly 30 years for the 1989 slaying of the state Department of Corrections (DOC) …

Florida DA Reopens Cold Murder Case, Exonerates Wrongly Imprisoned Man, Finds Real Killers – and Gets Axed by Governor

Article • March 1, 2023 • from PLN March, 2023

Filed under: Attorney Misconduct, Wrongful Imprisonment, Murder/Felony Murder

Florida DA Reopens Cold Murder Case, Exonerates Wrongly Imprisoned Man, Finds Real Killers – and Gets Axed by Governor by David Reutter by David M. Reutter On August 4, 2022, nearly 40 years after the brutal 1983 murder of 19-year-old Barbara Grams in Tampa, the indictments of two men for …

Golbert v. Smith, IL, Complaint, Wrongfully Incarcerated, 2023

Brief • January 19, 2023

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Juveniles

Golbert v. Smith, IL, Complaint, Wrongfully Incarcerated, 2023 Case: 1:23-cv-00300 Document #: 1 Filed: 01/19/23 Page 1 of 32 PageID #:1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION CHARLES GOLBERT, Cook County Public Guardian, on behalf of J.B., K.J., M.J., D.M., J.R., J.S., …

M.G. V. NY State Office of Mental Health, NY, Opinion & Order, Inadequate Mental Health Care, 2021

Brief • November 15, 2021

Filed under: Wrongful Imprisonment, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Inadequate Health Care Facilities

M.G. V. NY State Office of Mental Health, NY, Opinion & Order, Inadequate Mental Health Care, 2021 Case 7:19-cv-00639-CS-AEK Document 185 Filed 11/15/21 Page 1 of 20 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------------------------------x M.G., P.C., C.J., M.J., J.R., D.R., S.D., W.P., and D.H., individually and on …