Wrongfully Convicted Man Spends 31 Years In Prison and Instead of Exoneration, He Got $75!

In a truly shocking case of a miscarriage of justice, a man has spent more than three decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

To add insult to injury he is now fighting for compensation after receiving just $75 for his ordeal.

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.

He was sentenced to 115 years in prison. 100 years for the rape and 15 years for the theft.

But he was dramatically released in 2009 after new DNA evidence found that he was not even on the scene.

Mr McKinney could be eligible for up to $1 million in compensation – the maximum – if the state’s parole board hears his exoneration case.

The parole board has declined to do so twice.

“I don’t have no life, all my life was taken away,” McKinney told CBS News.

His lawyer, Jack Lowery, said his client had suffered enough. He does not believe justice would be served by McKinney receiving compensation alone.

Unbelievably, seven members of the Tennessee parole board voted unanimously to deny hearing his exoneration case.

One member on the parole board, Patsy Bruce, said she was still not sure he was innocent and voted against his exoneration.

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.

She said the governor’s office is carrying out a review of Mr McKinney’s application with the board’s recommendation, which is confidential.

The governor can choose to agree or disagree with the board’s recommendation, or he can choose not to act.

Mr McKinney works at the Immanuel Baptist Church with the aim of becoming a preacher. One of his advocates is Republican state representative Mark Pody.

He is determined to clear his name.

“Being exonerated would put me on a standard with everyone else in society. I didn’t get a chance to build a career or buy a home. I lost all my 20s, 30s and 40s, but I’m a servant of the Lord and any blessing I get I just want for my wife,” he told The Tennessean.

A Change.org petition calling for his exoneration has reached more than 10,000 signatures.