A man who was convicted wrongly in a lawsuit will get $11.7 million from the officials in the eastern Idaho city of Idaho Falls.
The man has served a sentence of 20 years in prison for being wrongfully convicted in a rape and murder case in 1997. The plaintiff tried to appeal the conviction on multiple occasions as his DNA did not match the DNA at the crime scene.
The plaintiff was released from prison in 2017 and was cleared from the lawsuit in 2019 when the investigators of the case arrested the real criminal, who was later sentenced to 20 years of prison in 2021.
The plaintiff said that no amount could ever compensate the 20 years he spent in prison for the crime he did not commit. However, the money would be helpful for a satisfactory future life.
He filed a lawsuit in a federal court in October 2020 against the city of Idaho Falls and the police department of Idaho Falls. The judge was asked to dismiss the claims against the city, but Idaho Falls City Council approved the settlement.
The lawyers representing the plaintiff said that the police officials need to be careful during the investigation and should refrain from the practices of lying, deception, and coercion as sometimes it costs a lifetime of punishment for an innocent. The mayor of the city has apologized to the plaintiff and his mother in a letter.
