Man wrongly convicted of rape, spent 44 years in prison, gets $25M settlement
OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:10 PM – Wednesday, January 10, 2024
A $25 million settlement has been reached between a North Carolina city and the state of North Carolina in response to a complaint accusing authorities of misconduct, according to the victim’s attorneys on Tuesday. The man had been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 44 years.
The settlement includes a public written apology from the city of Concord for its role in Ronnie Wallace Long’s wrongful incarceration. This settlement brings an end to the wrongful incarceration case brought by his attorneys in 2021. As part of the settlement, the city has agreed to pay $22 million of the $25 million settlement.
“We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends, and our community,” the statement read. “While there are no measures to fully restore to Mr. Long and his family all that was taken from them, through this agreement we are doing everything in our power to right the past wrongs and take responsibility.”
Long, now 68-years-old, was wrongly charged with raping a White woman when he was a young man living in Concord, North Carolina. In 1976, an all-White jury in Cabarrus County found him guilty of burglary and rape. At the age of 21, Long was sentenced to two life terms.
Long received support from a wrongful convictions clinic at Duke University’s law school throughout his criminal case appeal.
According to Long’s attorneys, over forty fingerprints collected from the crime scene were never compared to Long’s. Additionally, his defense team was denied access to the semen samples.
In August 2020, a federal appeals court granted Long a second hearing as part of his request for relief. His conviction was quickly overturned, and he was released from prison. Later that year, Governor Roy Cooper fully pardoned him based on his innocence.
A few months later, Long received $750,000 from a state panel, the maximum amount provided to victims of wrongful incarceration.
Following that, he filed a lawsuit in federal court in Raleigh, alleging that Concord police officers had engaged in “extraordinary misconduct” that led to his unjust conviction and imprisonment, violating his constitutional rights.
According to a press release from his attorneys, Long also received an additional $3 million from the State Bureau of Investigation as part of the settlement “due to the SBI’s role in concealing evidence from Mr. Long and his legal team that proved his innocence.”
Concord officials also stated on Tuesday that they ”acknowledge and accept responsibility for the significant errors in judgment and willful misconduct by previous city employees that led to Long’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment.”
Long’s lawyers emphasized the importance of the city’s apology to their client, despite calling the financial payouts “one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements” in the country.
“This result speaks to the magnitude of injustice that occurred in Mr. Long’s case,” said Chris Olson, one of Long’s lawyers. He also added that the “apology goes a long way in helping Mr. Long heal.”
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Several NFL teams begin their search for new head coaches.
The prosecution of January 6th attendees continues.
Ecuador’s president declares a state of “internal armed conflict” and identifies more than 20 gangs as terrorist groups, making them military targets.
The SEC gets “hacked” into approving BTC ETF, part five of the Epstein files gets dropped, and Ecuador erupts into chaos.
Google is set to go before a federal jury in Boston on Tuesday over accusations that its processors infringe a computer scientist’s patents.
OpenAI and its financial backer Microsoft are sued in Manhattan federal court by a pair of nonfiction authors who claim the companies misused their work to train the AI models behind AI-based services.
SpaceX sues a U.S. labor board to block its case accusing the company of illegally firing employees, calling CEO Elon Musk “a distraction and embarrassment.”
ChatGPT was well on its way to becoming a household name even before 2023 kicked off.
rnrn
What was the amount of the settlement reached in the wrongful incarceration case in North Carolina?
A $25 Million Settlement Reached in Wrongful Incarceration Case in North Carolina
A $25 million settlement has been reached between a North Carolina city and the state of North Carolina in response to a complaint accusing authorities of misconduct, according to the victim’s attorneys on Tuesday. The man in question had been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 44 years.
The settlement includes a public written apology from the city of Concord for its role in Ronnie Wallace Long’s wrongful incarceration. This settlement brings an end to the wrongful incarceration case brought by his attorneys in 2021. As part of the settlement, the city has agreed to pay $22 million of the $25 million settlement.
“We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends, and our community,” the statement read. “While there are no measures to fully restore to Mr. Long and his family all that was taken from them, through this agreement we are doing everything in our power to right the past wrongs and take responsibility.”
Long, now 68-years-old, was wrongly charged with raping a White woman when he was a young man living in Concord, North Carolina. In 1976, an all-White jury in Cabarrus County found him guilty of burglary and rape. At the age of 21, Long was sentenced to two life terms.
Long received support from a wrongful convictions clinic at Duke University’s law school throughout his criminal case appeal. According to Long’s attorneys, over forty fingerprints collected from the crime scene were never compared to Long’s. Additionally, his defense team was denied access to the semen samples.
In August 2020, a federal appeals court granted Long a second hearing as part of his request for relief. His conviction was quickly overturned, and he was released from prison. Later that year, Governor Roy Cooper fully pardoned him based on his innocence.
A few months later, Long received $750,000 from a state panel, the maximum amount provided to victims of wrongful incarceration. Following that, he filed a lawsuit in federal court in Raleigh, alleging that Concord police officers had engaged in ”extraordinary misconduct” that led to his unjust conviction and imprisonment, violating his constitutional rights.
According to a press release from his attorneys, Long also received an additional $3 million from the State Bureau of Investigation as part of the settlement “due to the SBI’s role in concealing evidence from Mr. Long and his legal team that proved his innocence.”
Concord officials also stated on Tuesday that they ”acknowledge and accept responsibility for the significant errors in judgment and willful misconduct by previous city employees that led to Long’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment.”
Long’s lawyers emphasized the importance of the city’s apology to their client, despite calling the financial payouts “one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements” in the country.
“This result speaks to the magnitude of injustice that occurred in Mr. Long’s case,” said Chris Olson, one of Long’s lawyers. He also added that the “apology goes a long way in helping Mr. Long heal.”
The case of Ronnie Long highlights the flaws present in the criminal justice system, where innocent individuals can spend decades behind bars for crimes they did not commit. While the financial settlement brings some form of compensation, it can never truly make up for the lost years and the trauma endured by Long and his loved ones. It is crucial to continue working towards reforms that prevent such injustices from happening in the future and ensure that all individuals are treated fairly and justly within the legal system.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Now loading...