# Served 18 yrs, released due to DNA testing. Entitled to compensation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 19, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982 "2003-06-19T18:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/1 "2003-06-19T18:49:23Z")
[The link](http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/06/19/dna.freed.inmate.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > TOWSON, Maryland (AP) – A convicted double murderer who spent 18 years behind bars was freed following DNA tests that prove two strands of hair found at the crime scene and used against him at trial weren’t his after all. Is he compensated for his (apparent wrongful) time behind bars automatically, or does he have to sue to get compensation if he wants it? My first question is really a GQ, because it’s likely a yes or no answer. However I’m also curious if the policy differs by the jurisdiction or if the person has some other recourse. I’m not informed on such things, but my first thoughts are that he ought to be compensated for lost wages. I’d like to read your thoughts. Regards, Abb ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/2 "2003-06-19T18:52:47Z")
And to be clear, I understand that in this case the time served is being attributed to the robbery charge. But what about if there had been no other charge? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/3 "2003-06-20T03:28:34Z")
The deal is, we are guaranteed a fair trial - not an accurate trial. What’s the legal difference between a credible seeming witness who is dead wrong and a clerical or procedural error at a DNA lab? I don’t know - I’m asking. Both can put an innocent women in jail. (There are no innocent men!😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/4 "2003-06-20T04:07:14Z")
Some states are not allowing DNA testing to establish the innocence of someone who was convicted before such tests were available. I think that that is absolutely _horrid_. I know of some who have been compensated when they wrongfully had to serve time, but I think that had to do with police corruption or an unfair trial – not jury error. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/5 "2003-06-20T04:37:35Z")
I agree that it is a damn shame, but if there was no hanky-panky at trial (prosecutorial misconduct, perjury, etc), the defendant should not be entitled to compensation. It sucks, but mistakes happen in a system like ours. The real horrid thing, Zoe? Many jurisdictions have destroyed old evidence, so there is nothing left to test! ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/6 "2003-06-20T04:58:44Z")
I think there should be compensation, and it should be paid by juries. If they return innocent, and the guy was guilty, they pay. If he was innocent but they labeled him guilty, they pay. Definately would give them the right incentives, no? ;\> ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/7 "2003-06-20T05:19:42Z")
Yep, a great incentive for any sane person to get out of jury duty by any means necessary. As if that wan’t enough of a problem already! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/8 "2003-06-20T12:27:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EJsGirl \* > \*\*It sucks, but mistakes happen in a system like ours. > \*\* Sure, but the system is there to benefit the whole of society, when it goes wrong why should an individual bear the sole burden. In _compensating_ such a wrongfully imprisoned individual we are just asking the society bears the cost (which it surely will not notice) rather than some poor Joe Schmoe (who certainly did notice). However, how you compensate someone for years of false imprisonment I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/9 "2003-06-20T12:34:11Z")
I don’t think that he is legally entitled to compensation assuming that he got a fair trial. However, I feel that morally the right thing to do is to compensate him. I don’t know how you can compensate someone for 18 years in jail and I don’t think he should become a millionare. I do think that he should be given enough money and resources to start a new life. He may not be entitled to it, but it is the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![sotally\_tober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@sotally\_tober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sotally_tober)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/10 "2003-06-20T13:16:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Apos \* > \*\*I think there should be compensation, and it should be paid by juries. If they return innocent, and the guy was guilty, they pay. If he was innocent but they labeled him guilty, they pay. Definately would give them the right incentives, no? ;\> \*\* But then the incentive would be for juries to return the ‘innocent’ verdict each time, since that minimises the chance of having to pay compensation. Assuming the defendant was guilty, he’d be set free and (a) if he’s smart, we would never know or (b) until the next time he commits a crime. And then, the cycle starts again. Hindsight is 20/20. And while there might be no legal obligation for the government to provide compensation, i believe it should. This is more from a moral standpoint than anything else. The wrong verdict cost him nearly 2 decades. That’s 1/3 of his life. Now that we know he’s not guilty, the state should probably compensate him, perhaps not in excessive monetary terms but eg buy him a new identity (a la thomas venables) to start anew. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/11 "2003-06-20T14:10:12Z")
How much money does it cost to keep a single person in prison for a year? Although you can’t ever give someone their lost years back, I think you could give them quintuple what you paid to keep them in prison all those years, as a small gesture to them. It wouldn’t add appreciably to the enormous cost of our prison system, and it would help the wrongfully imprisoned put their lives back together. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/12 "2003-06-20T18:11:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\*How much money does it cost to keep a single person in prison for a year? > > Although you can’t ever give someone their lost years back, I think you could give them quintuple what you paid to keep them in prison all those years, as a small gesture to them. It wouldn’t add appreciably to the enormous cost of our prison system, and it would help the wrongfully imprisoned put their lives back together. > \*\* Keeping an inmate in a state prison in 2001 cost $40.65 a day according to an article in the [Dallas Morning News]([www.dallasnews.com/texassouthwest/columnists/kbiffle/](http://www.dallasnews.com/texassouthwest/columnists/kbiffle/) stories/112402dntexnubiffle.71695.html - 67k) I’m not sure I agree with “quintuple”. Yipes that would be 10.6 million or so if I did the math right. I was thinking more along the lines of **sotally tober** or **In Conceivable** , a new identity if wanted, and perhaps a portion of what he might have earned. If you assume something like 40,000 a year, it’s still less than one million dollars. \*\*j.c[/] made a good point about “fair trial - not an accurate trial”. Which supports what **Zoe** and **Ej’s girl** mentioned about perjury, misconduct or corruption. Thanks for your comments everyone. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/13 "2003-06-20T18:56:58Z")
The “miscarriages” of justice that I am familiar with rarely correspond to the happy picture of a jury faced with overwhelming, irrefutable, yet purely coincidental evidence, but rather they involve cynical detective work (forced confessions, fabricated/suppressed evidence, partisan/bought testimony, etc). In those circumstances I don’t see that **DanielWithrow** ’s formula is excessive, not least because there should be some disincentive for the state to pursue against an individual improperly. In any case 5 x 40.65 x 365 x 18 = 1 335 316, or, around one and a third million dollars. How much would you give up 18 years of your life for? **AbbySthrnAccent** , your link gives me a _Page Not Found_ error. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/14 "2003-06-20T19:38:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > **AbbySthrnAccent** , your link gives me a _Page Not Found_ error. \*\* Well blast and I don’t know how to fix it either. I guess that makes the cite invalid. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/15 "2003-06-20T19:44:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > Sure, but the system is there to benefit the whole of society, when it goes wrong why should an individual bear the sole burden. > > In _compensating_ such a wrongfully imprisoned individual we are just asking the society bears the cost (which it surely will not notice) rather than some poor Joe Schmoe (who certainly did notice). I’ve got to agree with this. When the system that’s there to protect us all makes a mistake whose cost bears excessively on a particular individual, that individual deserves some _automatic_ compensation, IMHO. And I’m not talking about loss of income or whatever - let’s keep that separate. I’m talking simply about the loss of _liberty_ and the right to pursuit of happiness. And I think that’s worth as much to the poor man as to the rich man. I think I’d put its price tag at somewhere in the $50-75K/year range. And if you were willing to sign away your rights to sue the state for more, then I think being compensated for unjust imprisonment should be an administrative procedure, a matter of signing a form. ---
**Author:** ![Tekneek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Tekneek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tekneek)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/16 "2003-06-20T23:10:01Z")
First of all, you need to make sure that the guy’s record is completely clear of anything having to do with it. It is removed from any database that keeps any such records, and he is neither required to tell anyone he went through it, and employers are not allowed to discriminate based off of any knowledge they may have of the event. I’ve seen documentary style shows about these wrongfully convicted guys. They get out and can’t get jobs because employers who run background checks get hits for the arrests and convictions, even though they have been ‘cleared’ and released. Employers aren’t touching it. They end up saying things like, ‘At least when I was in prison I could get some kind of job, and I could get food everyday.’ ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/served-18-yrs-released-due-to-dna-testing-entitled-to-compensation/182982/17 "2003-06-20T23:23:28Z")
Yes, such an individual deserves compensation. Wrongful imprisonment would suck big booty. Being cleared of wrongdoing and then returned to society with no job, no money, and no security sucks even bigger booty. Even losers on game shows get consolation prizes. Giving someone money for losing 18 years of freedom is not exactly compensation, but it kind of acts as a consolation prize. It’s the least we could do.