Men freed after 17 years in jail for crime they didn't commit will get $140 for each day behind bars

Two guys who were released from prison after spending 17 years for a crime they didn't commit will get $140 for every day they were imprisoned.

Dupree Glass, 36, and Juan Rayford, 37, were set free in 2020 after a retrial in which the real criminal, Chad Brandon McZeal, confessed, and they have since been found innocent. The gang member is presently incarcerated for life after being found guilty of murder in a separate case.

When Glass and Rayford were detained following a shooting in 2004 that injured two teens, they were 17 and 18 years old, respectively.

Both of them insisted they had no part in the shooting. They received 11 consecutive life sentences after being found guilty on 11 charges of attempted murder. Glass and Rayford did not have any prior criminal records before receiving their sentences.

The trial against them in 2004 "never should have been brought in the first place," according to their defense attorney, Annee Della Donna, who spoke to The Associated Press.

"Nothing linking them to the shooting was found. Zero," the attorney uttered.

Only two witnesses gave testimony that supported their convictions, and both of them later changed their tales. Della Donna said that during the course of a five-year inquiry, defense investigators discovered multiple witnesses who asserted, "Oh no, they weren't the shooters, they never had a gun."

Glass and Rayford are qualified for compensation under a new California legislation as a result of the Los Angeles-based new trial. For each day they were imprisoned, they must get $140 (£112), which comes to roughly $900,000 (£725,000).

Both males are fathers of little daughters and are currently employed as Walmart drivers. His high school love, who waited for him while he was in jail, and Rayford are still together.

The two men's second trial, which began in October after a state appeals court panel overturned their convictions, came to a close on Thursday, April 20 when a California judge proclaimed them innocent.

The men received hugs from their loved ones as they applauded for them outside the courthouse.

"I gave this day a lot of thinking. When I was 17 years in prison, I contemplated it, Rayford said outside the courthouse. "I contemplated it during my final two years of freedom. Because I was aware that I was not guilty of any of the crimes they said I had done, I patiently awaited this day.