Over the last few years, we’ve covered so many exonerations it’s hard to keep count. Black men have spent more than 20, 30, and in some cases, 40 years in prison before having their convictions thrown out.
Once these men are released, it always feels like a wrong has been righted. But rarely are they given any monetary compensation for the time they wrongly spent in prison. At least that was the case until George Bell, a Black man, who just received a record-breaking settlement from the city of New York.
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In 1999, he and two other men were convicted for the 1996 murder of a check-cashing store owner and an off-duty police officer in East Elmhurst, Queens. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
But in 2021, a New York City judge threw out the convictions of Bell, and the two other men involved after it was discovered that prosecutors hid evidence that could have possibly cast doubt on their guilt, according to the New York Times.
For Bell, the blessings did not end there.
On Thursday, he received the largest settlement in New York City history, $17.5 million.
More from the New York Times:
Mr. Bell’s settlement, confirmed by the city’s Law Department, is the largest the city has paid for a wrongful conviction, said Richard Emery, Mr. Bell’s lawyer. The city comptroller’s annual reports show none higher.
“It recognizes the horrible suffering that a young, innocent man went through facing the death penalty for three years and life without parole for 21 more,” Mr. Emery said.
The deal comes after Mr. Bell reached a $4.4 million settlement with the state, Mr. Emery said.
So not only did this man get exonerated, but he also got nearly $21.9 from the state and city of New York. Talk about getting your money’s worth.
One of the people partly responsible is Melinda Katz, the district attorney of Queens, who helped create a unit that reviews cases that could’ve been wrongful convictions, according to the New York Times.
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