Alabama Slow to Compensate Wrongfully Convicted

10.25.17 By Innocence Staff

Alabama Slow to Compensate Wrongfully Convicted

Alabama is dragging its feet to compensate wrongfully convicted residents for the years they spent unjustly behind bars, according to an investigation by WBRC.

Since the state passed its wrongful conviction compensation law in 2001, 47 exonerees have filed for compensation, but only four have had their settlements approved and only two have been paid in full.

In 2015, the state’s Legislative Committee on Compensation for Wrongful Incarceration awarded Antonio Williams $213,289.38, the maximum amount for the five years he spent behind bars before he was exonerated in 2011. Since then, he has received only $25,000. Williams’ attorney Roger Appell looked deeper into the law and discovered that compensation funds will only be paid if the state legislature appropriates the money out of the general fund budget.

State Representative Steve Clouse, chairman of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, told WBRC that the state simply does not have the money to pay Williams.

“If we had more money, we could fulfill these obligations and we wouldn’t be having this discussion right now,” Clouse told WBRC.

Williams was convicted of rape and sex abuse of a child in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. He suffered greatly in prison due to the nature of the crime for which he was wrongly convicted.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I was going to commit suicide,” Williams told WBRC. “… I just wanted to give up because I thought I would never get out.”

Since his release, Williams has struggled to rebuild his life, working as the resident manager of an apartment complex and attempting to reconnect with family and friends. Appell told WBRC that no amount of money can rectify what happened to Williams, but the full amount of his compensation would certainly help him move forward.

“I’d rather have my life back than have the money,” Williams told WBRC.

Appell said he will lobby the state legislature to allocate the funds for Williams’ compensation in 2018.

Read the WBRC coverage here.

Related: Wrongful Conviction Day 2017: Taking a Closer Look at Compensation Laws in the U.S.

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James Waller April 13, 2020 at 2:03 am Reply   

Shame on the state,with all the free labor, that black people did for 300 yrs use that money, get from the judge and jury that convicted him, pay man so he can live.

Andre Fisher July 8, 2019 at 2:29 pm Reply   

I plaintiff constituent exoneree petitoner Andre Tyrone Fisher have been exonerated 2 in Somerset county Maryland and I would like to receive my guaranteed effective assistance of counsel and help me get my compensation for the erroneous conviction and imprisonment-certification according to SB 348 chapter 799 HB 593 chapter 800, SB 191 HB 1184, the fruit of the Poisonous Tree Act inevitable Discovery

Kelvin Sewell and Franklin Savage pocomoke MD police department et al are guilty of injustice/misconduct in Somerset county Maryland and in office.

Urge the governor of Maryland Lawrence J Hogan Jr to sign pass SB 191 HB 1184 and sign the pardon application for Andre Tyrone Fisher and Somerset County Maryland

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