Kansas man set free after spending 23 years behind bars for crime he didn't commit — and state gives him $0
BYJESSICA SCHLADEBECK
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 9:14 AM
Man set free after 23 years in prison: "No one should go through something like that"
03:21
Man set free after 23 years in prison: "No one should go through something like that"
KCTV5KSHBreported.
McIntyre has long insisted that he was innocent and was finally released from jail to his loved ones on Oct. 13. After spending only two days reviewing the forensic evidence officials dropped the case against him.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” McIntyre told the news station. “I figured it was coming soon because the truth is what the truth is.”
Even though he spent 23 years — more than half his life — wrongfully incarcerated, the state does not owe McIntyre any compensation.
If he had been convicted in Texas, the state would have been legally required to pay him $80,000 per year he spent in jail — that’s a payout of $1.8 million. In Colorado the state would have paid the 41 year-old $70,000 a year while he would have received annual payments in Alabama of $50,000.
In New York, the court of claims determines a fair payout amount.
Kansas, however, is one of 18 states that offer no compensation for those who have been wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, theKansas City Starreported.
Lamonte McIntyre freed from prison on October 13, 2017. He spent 23 years in jail before a judge declared him innocent.
(KSHB)
If he were released on parole, the state would have been required to offer him assistance in searching for housing, education and getting his ID — but because he was exonerated they’re required to offer no such aid.
In both 2016 and 2017 two separate bills were introduced that would call for the state to compensate those exonerated over wrongful conviction, though both eventually died.
For now, afund-raising sitehas been posted in an effort to raise money for McIntyre's future, who was trained as a barber in prison. He told the newspaper he was looking to get certified while he figures out exactly what he wants to do in the future.
McIntyre could sue individuals as well as the police department or the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office — though they would all come with their own challenges, according to the Star.
“You can do that,” said Michelle Feldman, legislative strategist for the New York-basedProject Innocence. “It is just a very tough process. Police officers have conditional immunity. They have a lot of coverage under doing their job. It is really hard to get over that.
“Prosecutors have pretty much absolute immunity. You have to show they intentionally engaged in misconduct. It just can’t be that they screwed up.”
BYJESSICA SCHLADEBECK
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 9:14 AM
- Tweet
Man set free after 23 years in prison: "No one should go through something like that"
03:21
Man set free after 23 years in prison: "No one should go through something like that"
KCTV5KSHBreported.
McIntyre has long insisted that he was innocent and was finally released from jail to his loved ones on Oct. 13. After spending only two days reviewing the forensic evidence officials dropped the case against him.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” McIntyre told the news station. “I figured it was coming soon because the truth is what the truth is.”
Even though he spent 23 years — more than half his life — wrongfully incarcerated, the state does not owe McIntyre any compensation.
If he had been convicted in Texas, the state would have been legally required to pay him $80,000 per year he spent in jail — that’s a payout of $1.8 million. In Colorado the state would have paid the 41 year-old $70,000 a year while he would have received annual payments in Alabama of $50,000.
In New York, the court of claims determines a fair payout amount.
Kansas, however, is one of 18 states that offer no compensation for those who have been wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, theKansas City Starreported.
Lamonte McIntyre freed from prison on October 13, 2017. He spent 23 years in jail before a judge declared him innocent.
(KSHB)
If he were released on parole, the state would have been required to offer him assistance in searching for housing, education and getting his ID — but because he was exonerated they’re required to offer no such aid.
In both 2016 and 2017 two separate bills were introduced that would call for the state to compensate those exonerated over wrongful conviction, though both eventually died.
For now, afund-raising sitehas been posted in an effort to raise money for McIntyre's future, who was trained as a barber in prison. He told the newspaper he was looking to get certified while he figures out exactly what he wants to do in the future.
McIntyre could sue individuals as well as the police department or the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office — though they would all come with their own challenges, according to the Star.
“You can do that,” said Michelle Feldman, legislative strategist for the New York-basedProject Innocence. “It is just a very tough process. Police officers have conditional immunity. They have a lot of coverage under doing their job. It is really hard to get over that.
“Prosecutors have pretty much absolute immunity. You have to show they intentionally engaged in misconduct. It just can’t be that they screwed up.”
No words....