A man who has spent 24 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction will get $10.5 million from New York City to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by him.
The man is 47 years old now and was convicted in 1994 for shooting his neighbor a year before the verdict.
The prosecutors relied on the testimony of a woman who said that she saw the victim with a gun in his hand at the scene. There was not any forensic evidence that would claim the victim was guilty. In 2013, the woman recanted her testimony by stating that she was forced by the former detective to give a fake testimony.
As per the court documents, the man was framed in the case by a former detective who had been forcing witnesses and framing the suspects in the crime during the 1980s and 1990s when the crime rate was high. It was the 14th overturned conviction involving the detective.
The victim said that the money could not repay the years he has spent in prison for the crime he did not commit, but he will make sure to look ahead for a bright future by rebuilding his life.
New York City law department's spokesperson said that the settlement will benefit both parties. The city has settled several other cases linked to the detective by paying millions of dollars in settlements, on the other hand, he has denied all the wrongdoings.
