Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Two brothers were wrongfully convicted of rape and murder. Nearly 40 years later, they are getting $75 million in compensation

Two brothers were wrongfully convicted of rape and murder. Nearly 40 years later, they are getting $75 million in compensation

A federal jury has awarded $75 million to two brothers in North Carolina, decades after they were convicted of rape and murder they did not commit.

Leon Brown and Henry McCollum were arrested in 1983 and spent nearly 31 years in prison before the half-brothers were exonerated in 2014.

The award is significant because not all exonerees in the United States are guaranteed compensation.

The federal government, Washington, DC, and only 35 states have some form of restitution laws, according to the Innocence Project, but advocates say many of them fall short in compensating people.

Like many exonerees around the country, Brown and McCollum opted to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the government agencies involved in their wrongful convictions -- a process that advocates say often takes years and it's challenging to win.

Last week, a federal jury decided that Brown and McCollum should be compensated for their time in prison, nearly six years after filing a lawsuit in federal court. The jury awarded them $31 million each in compensatory damages -- that's $1 million for each year they were incarcerated. They will also receive an additional $13 million total in punitive damages, according to court documents.

Brown and McCollum were arrested and charged in 1983 with the rape and murder of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie in Red Springs, North Carolina, CNN previously reported. Both of them were sentenced to death, but Brown later had his sentence reduced to life in prison.

In 2014, both Brown and McCollum were exonerated and released from prison after DNA from a cigarette collected at the crime scene was tested and ultimately tied another person to the crime. The brothers filed a civil rights lawsuit in 2015 against local officials involved in the original case.

At the trial for their civil case, attorneys for the brothers had to prove that they had been wrongfully convicted, and argued they had been coerced to give false confessions.

Attorney Elliot Abrams said his team presented evidence showing that investigators withheld information in Brown and McCollum's initial trial, including the manner in which the interrogations were conducted and the existence of another suspect.

"There was a heinous rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl and the government said these two people did it and confessed to it. There was nothing to counter that," Abrams said. "We now know they covered it up intentionally."

At the time, McCollum was 19 and had a low IQ, which Abrams compares to that of a 9-year-old boy; and there were inconsistencies when comparing statements made to police with details of the crime scene as well as the autopsy, the attorneys argued in the lawsuit.

CNN has reached out to Scott MacLatchie, an attorney for the two North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation officers involved in the case and to the Robeson County Sheriff's Department for comment.

Unlike many exoneration cases, attorneys representing McCollum and Brown were successful in their attempts to prove misconduct, said Rebecca Brown, the director of policy for the Innocence Project.

"Sometimes somebody was just misidentified and it wasn't necessarily because there was an intentional suggestive lineup, it's just error in the system that will exist anyway," Brown said. "That does not mean by the way that there wasn't misconduct, it just means that it's very difficult to prove misconduct that rises to the level of a civil rights violation."


Exonerees have to fight to be compensated, advocates say

The Innocence Project, along with other groups across the country, has been advocating for wrongful conviction compensation laws that apply to all who have been exonerated.

Since 1989, more than 2,700 people who were wrongfully convicted have been exonerated of state and federal crimes, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. About 50% of the wrongfully convicted people in the registry identify as Black and less than 10% are women.

Advocates say many people do not receive compensation due to the lack of statutes in their states or because there are restrictive requirements in the states with enacted laws.

"If the majority of actual innocent people can't be compensated under a civil rights scheme, using civil litigation, we want to pass laws in every state that provides global compensation, regardless of whether you can demonstrate fault, regardless of whether people can prove official misconduct.

We want everyone to be able to be equally treated under the law," Brown said.

Fernando Bermudez wrongly served 18 years behind bars for a homicide he didn't commit in New York but had to wait three years after filing a claim before he received his first settlement. He said he was exonerated in 2009 and received two settlements, one from the state and the other from the city in 2014 and 2017, respectively.

"Once I got out I knew that wouldn't be the end of my fight ... I was outraged that I had to pursue this, I had to fight for compensation and get recriminalized in the process," Bermudez said.

During those years, Bermudez says authorities still saw him as if he had been rightfully arrested, charged and convicted.
"They look at that stuff to try and make an argument that you really didn't have a life or contribute to society," Bermudez said.

One of the leading causes of wrongful convictions is official misconduct by police officers or prosecutors, according to a study published last year by the National Registry of Exonerations. Brown with the Innocence Project says the pending George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 could help decrease the number of wrongful convictions by ending qualified immunity.

"Until police agencies are going to really be responsible for this kind of restitution -- and share liability by individual cops who have some skin in the game -- until that happens, you are not going to see changes in police culture or policy," Brown said. "Qualified immunity, eliminating it, is not just a reform about restitution, but it is also about incentivizing change in the police agency."

For Jabbar Collins, a paralegal who wrongfully served 16 years in a New York state prison for the murder of a rabbi, Leon Brown and McCollum's jury award doesn't "fully capture" the loss and damage they suffered.

"These guys went into prison, they were young, they lost virtually half of their lives and they'll spend the rest of their lives trying to piece back together and try to make sense of what they have lost and that's the reality," Collins said.

Eleven years have passed since Collins was released and he says there are parts of his life that he's still trying to process.
"The money helps, but it never, never makes you whole," Collins said.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
×