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.
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