One year free, and a new life begun

One year ago today, Dwayne Dail walked out of a North Carolina prison and into his family’s arms. Dail served 18 years for a child rape he didn’t commit, before his attorneys at the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence discovered biological evidence from his case stored in a police department closet. For years, Dail had written and appealed to everyone he could think of – and even asked to be executed at one point. “I wanted the state of North Carolina to be responsible for my murder and not just another inmate,” he said. Finally he found the NCCAI, whose work led to his release.

Today he lives in Florida with relatives, and he was recently compensated by the state of North Carolina – which improved its compensation statute this month to bring it in line with federal standards of $50,000 per year of wrongful incarceration.



Watch a video interview with Dail after his release

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Other exoneration anniversaries this week:

Monday:

Lonnie Erby

, Missouri (Served 17 Years, Exonerated 8/25/03)

Tuesday:

Barry Laughman

, Pennsylvania (Served 16 Years, Exonerated 08/26/04)


Eddie Joe Lloyd

, Michigan (Served 17 Years, Exonerated 08/26/02)

Today:

Bruce Nelson

, Pennsylvania (Served 9 Years, Exonerated 08/28/91)