Wednesday, June 24, 2015

The City of New York to pay $6.25 Million to Innocent Man who spent 25 years in prison for 1989 murder


A man who spent 25 years of his life in prison before being exonerated for a Brooklyn, N.Y. murder he didn't commit has made a settlement with New York City, the Associated Press reports. 
According to The Root, the city has agreed to pay Jonathan Fleming $6.25 million, with Comptroller Scott Stringer saying that it was "in the best interest of all parties" to settle. “We cannot give back the time that he served, but the city of New York can offer Jonathan Fleming this compensation for the injustice that was committed against him,” Stringer said.

Flleming's case was rather curious, having been convicted and imprisoned even after having an airtight alibi, an alibi that the Brooklyn district attorney's office agreed was valid at his exoneration last year. However, Fleming was upfront about his whereabouts from the very beginning. Jonathan Fleming had proof that he was vacationing at Disney World in Florida when his friend was shot to death in Brooklyn.

A friend of Fleming's was shot to death in Brooklyn in August 1989, however, at that time, Fleming was more than 1,000 miles away in Orlando, Fla., vacationing in Disney World. Fleming had plane tickets, videos, a hotel receipt and other material to prove his innocence.


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