After Spending 25 Years In Prison For A Crime He Didn’t Commit, Man To Receive $13m As Compensation (Photos)



Anthony Wright is a free man

A man jailed for 25 years for a rape and murder he didn’t commit will be paid $13m.

Anthony Wright was sentenced to life in prison in the US for the 1991 slaying of his neighbour, Louise Talley, 77, who was raped and repeatedly stabbed.

The conviction was reversed in 2014 after DNA evidence pointed to a former crack addict who died in a South Carolina prison.

Wright filed a federal lawsuit accusing police of writing a false confession and coercing him to sign it without reading it, and planting other evidence used to convict him.

The city of Philadelphia said on Wednesday the settlement doesn’t include an admission of liability.

Mayor Jim Kenney called the agreement a fair resolution of a case he called “tragic”.

“Mr Wright has shown great dignity throughout this process, and I hope this resolution assists him and his family after what they have been through,” Kenney said.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said there have been “tremendous reforms” in the Philadelphia police department since Wright’s incarceration, citing advances in forensic sciences and changes in investigative procedures, such as videotaping of interrogations.

David Rudovsky, one of Wright’s attorneys, lauded the department’s “significant reforms” and said he hopes such efforts “will ensure that everyone is treated fairly under the law”.

A statement from Wright said he will never get over the years spent in prison or missing time with his mother and growing son, but he was relieved he could get on with his life.

“For the sake of my young grandchildren, I am encouraged that the city of Philadelphia will continue to take steps to make sure that what happened to me never happens to my grandchildren or any other child,” he said.

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