Lawrence McKinney from Tennessee wrongly accused and imprisoned for 31 years for a crime he didn’t commit has asked for a $1m compensation to restart his life after he was handed $75 by the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
Independent full report:
A man who spent more than three decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit is fighting to up his compensation after receiving just $75.
Lawrence McKinney, now 60, of Memphis, Tennessee, spent 31 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted of raping a woman and stealing her television in 1978.
Mr McKinney could be eligible for up to $1 million in compensation – the maximum – if the state’s parole board hears his exoneration case, which they have declined to do twice already.
Mr McKinney was issued just $75 upon his release in July 2009.
“I don’t have no life, all my life was taken away,” he told CBS News.
His lawyer, Jack Lowery, said his client had suffered enough and justice would not be served via receiving compensation alone.
Mr McKinney’s attempt to be exonerated has been mired in red tape, although his record has been cleared.
In September, the seven members of the Tennessee parole board voted unanimously to deny hearing his exoneration case. The final word comes down to Republican governor Bill Haslam.
Mr Haslam’s press secretary, Jennifer Donnals, told The Tennessean that Mr Haslam received an executive clemency application on 21 November.
“Although I’ve spent more than half of my life locked up for a crime I did not do, I am not bitter or angry at anyone, because I have found the Lord and married a good wife,” McKinney said. “All I ask is that I be treated right and fair for what has happened to me. I didn’t do nothing, and I just want to be treated right.”