A jury has awarded $18.5 million to a New York City man who was exonerated four years ago after spending more than two decades in prison.
Alan Newton was cleared by DNA evidence in 2006. He had been sentenced in 1985 to up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of raping a woman in an abandoned building.
In awarding the money Tuesday, the federal jury in Manhattan ruled the city had violated Newton’s constitutional rights. It also found two police officers had failed to produce Newton’s evidence when requested.
The city says it will appeal.
Newton told The New York Times it’s something he’d been fighting for since he was freed in 2006. His case has been supported by the nonprofit Innocence Project, which seeks to free convicts through DNA evidence.
