Innocence after ten years of imprisonment: $50 million compensation for an innocent convict in America
A federal court in Chicago, located in the state of Illinois, USA, awarded $50 million (45 million euros) in compensation to an individual who wrongfully spent ten years in prison for a murder charge.
Now, 34-year-old Marcel Brown is set to receive an average of $5 million for each year he unjustly spent in prison.
Brown, an African-American, was convicted as an accomplice in the murder of a 19-year-old in 2008 and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but in 2018 the charges against him were dropped and he was released.
Brown’s defense attorneys were able to prove that police officers had obtained a confession from him using illegal methods and had not allowed him to contact a lawyer.
Furthermore, after a two-week trial, the jury unanimously concluded that the police had coerced a confession from Brown through pressure and by fabricating evidence.