A surprising case has come to light in Baltimore, America. The administration has compensated 48 million dollars to three black people wrongly imprisoned for 36 years. These people spent 36 years in a murder case they had not committed. When the police arrested them, these people were teenagers.
The settlement is being described as the largest in Maryland history. The agreement, called the Baltimore City Board of Estimates, was approved this week. In 2019, all three were acquitted. After which, the federal case has now been closed.
Accused Of Falsely Implicating Spies
These people had alleged that the spies had wrongly implicated them. The witnesses in their cases were coerced. After this, the State Attorney of Baltimore City found him innocent after a re-investigation. Eyewitnesses recanted previous testimony, which may have contributed to the wrongful conviction.
Justin Conroy, chief legal counsel for the Baltimore Police Department, gave the information in a meeting shared on YouTube on Wednesday. He told the board that these people had gone to jail as teenagers. Now, young people in their 50s have come out as grandfathers.
Their names are Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart and Ransom Watkins. Everyone will get $14.9 million. Conroy said the remaining $3.3 million will cover attorneys’ fees. Authorities arrested the juveniles for the November 1983 murder of 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett. The teen was walking to class when he was stopped and shot after noticing his blue Georgetown jacket.
Police Found Jacket While Searching The House
Chestnut, Watkins and Stewart were plucked from the same Baltimore middle school that afternoon during a trip to their old stomping grounds. The allegation was that these people were angry with this. Police also found a Georgetown jacket while searching Chestnut’s home on Thanksgiving Day. But Chestnut’s mother had a receipt for it.
After this, the Mid Atlantic Innocence Project, a legal aid group, helped prove the innocence of these people. Such evidence came to light in the case, showing the truth. Multiple witnesses told authorities that the shooter was a different 18-year-old suspect. As police arrived at Harlem Park Junior High School, a student had seen him running and throwing a gun.
