This Week in Innocence News – March 10, 2017

Here are some of this week’s news highlights:

Two New York exonerees to receive $15 million for wrongful convictions
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer announced Friday that Amaury Villalobos and William Vasquez, two men exonerated in 2015 of killing six people in a 1980 house fire, will each receive more than $15 million from the state and city for the nearly 33 years they were wrongfully incarcerated. The New York Daily News

2016 a record year for exonerations
A report by the National Registry of Exonerations shows that the number of people exonerated in the United States rose again in 2016 for a record total of 166. Associated Press

Black people more likely to be wrongfully convicted
Black people convicted of murder or sexual assault are significantly more likely than their white counterparts to be later found innocent of the crimes, according to a review released Tuesday by the National Registry of Exonerations. The New York Times

Fight to exonerate two chicago men of 1989 murder continues
Innocence Project attorneys were back in a Chicago courtroom on Wednesday, arguing for the innocence of clients Kevin Bailey and Corey Batchelor, who were convicted of a 1989 murder that DNA shows they did not commit. CBS News