Paying It Back

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Registered: 08-24-2009
Paying It Back
Sat, 09-05-2009 - 11:57pm

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1589243.html


DALLAS — Thomas McGowan’s journey from prison to prosperity is about to culminate in $1.8 million, and he knows just how to spend it: on a house with three bedrooms, stainless steel kitchen appliances, and a washer and dryer.

"I’ll let my girlfriend pick out the rest," said McGowan, who was exonerated last year based on DNA evidence after spending nearly 23 years in prison for rape and robbery.

He and at least four other exonerees in Texas, which leads the nation in freeing the wrongly convicted, will soon become instant millionaires under a state law that took effect this week.

Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth $40,000 to $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation’s most generous package.

"I’m nervous and excited," said McGowan, 50. "It’s something I never had, this amount of money. I didn’t have any money — period."

His payday for his imprisonment — a time he described as "a nightmare," "hell" and "slavery" — should come by mid-November after the state’s 45-day processing period.

Exonerees also receive social services, including job training, tuition credits, and access to medical and dental treatment. Although 27 other states have some form of compensation law for the wrongly convicted, none comes close to offering the social services and money that Texas does.

The annuity payments are especially popular among exonerees, who acknowledge their lack of experience in managing personal finances. A social worker who meets with the exonerees is setting them up with financial advisers and has led discussions alerting them to swindlers.

The annuities are "a way to guarantee these guys payments for life as long as they follow the law," said Kevin Glasheen, a Lubbock attorney representing a dozen exonerees.

Two who served about 26 years in prison for rape will receive lump sums of about $2 million apiece. Another, Steven Phillips, who spent about 24 years in prison for sexual assault and burglary, will get about $1.9 million.

The biggest compensation package will likely go to James Woodard, who spent more than 27 years in prison for a 1980 murder that DNA testing later showed he did not commit. He could eventually receive nearly $2.2 million but first needs a writ from the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals or a pardon from the governor.

McGowan and the others are among 38 DNA exonerees in Texas, according to the Innocence Project, a New York legal center that specializes in overturning wrongful convictions. Dallas County alone has 21 cases in which a judge overturned guilty verdicts based on DNA evidence, though prosecutors plan to retry one of those.

Charles Chatman, who was wrongly convicted of rape, said the money will allow him some peace of mind after more than 26 years in prison.

"It will bring me some independence," he said. "Other people have had a lot of control over my life."


 


I'm glad to see it.  I've known a few people wrongly convicted myself, being as I worked in both caseworker and security positions in men's maximum security prisons.  It's not pretty, and all those wasted years in he**......