Man wrongfully imprisoned 17 years awarded $1.2M
A judge has ordered Colorado to pay $1.2 million to a man who served 17 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of murder.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported Wednesday that Robert Dewey will receive $100,000 a year minus taxes.
State and local prosecutors proposed the settlement last month.
Dewey was convicted in 1996 of murder and rape in the death of a western Colorado woman. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
New DNA tests exonerated Dewey, and he was freed in April 2012. He had been living in poverty, but his experience prompted the state Legislature to pass a bill compensating people who are exonerated after a wrongful conviction.
A man serving time for another murder has been charged with the slaying.
