Maryland apologizes to man wrongly convicted of murder, agrees to $340K payment for years in prison

A man wrongly convicted of two separate violent crimes will be compensated by the state of Maryland after spending years behind bars, including over a year after he had been proven innocent.

A Maryland board approved more than $340,000 for a settlement on Wednesday in compensation for Demetrius Smith who was wrongly convicted of murder and first-degree assault and spent more than five years in prison.

Gov. Wes Moore, who chairs the three-member Board of Public Works, apologized to Smith before the board approved the settlement, noting that it’s been more than a decade since his release in 2013.

ALostBoy,

Bruh, I know 340K is a large chunk of money, but not nearly enough to compensate for 5 years!

ThunderingJerboa,
@ThunderingJerboa@kbin.social avatar

Hell it doesn't even seem like that much money if we consider lost wages, employment opportunities lost, 25k of it is going to legal fees, etc. The average salary in Baltimore is about 75k (5 years is 375k) and a median salary of 54k (5 years is 270k). Like 340k just seems like a bare minimum for stripping someone of their freedom for 5 years and the untold effects this will have on his future employment opportunities. A fucking bot is going ditch his application if he answers yes to "have you ever been arrested" question, hell that doesn't even speak about the having to explain the 5 year gap on your resume.

exohuman,
@exohuman@programming.dev avatar

Why did it take 10 years for them to compensate him?

Fredselfish,
@Fredselfish@lemmy.world avatar

Such bullshit. Kept him in prison a Year after found innocent and then 10 years later say I’m sorry and give him only 300k. I tell them to shove their apology.

It took 10 years because that how long they fought him over the money. You what real sad his attorney will get most of that money almost half. Only winner was the attorney.

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