Exonerated Man Seeks Cash For 27-Year Sentence

[The Straight Story]

Exonerated Man Seeks Cash For 27-Year Sentence

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. -- No bars or razor wire hold former Florida inmate No. 082629. Instead, William Dillon sits on furniture the color of ripe lemons, surrounded by cheerful animal statues and blooming plants, a prisoner no longer after 27 years.

He could get more than a million dollars in state compensation for his wrongful imprisonment, though how much he'll get -- if anything -- is up to lawmakers because he has a prior conviction for felony drug possession. A hearing on the matter took place this week in Tallahassee, though Dillon says it's impossible to put a dollar amount on his freedom.

"When I actually did walk down those steps, I was so lightheaded, felt like I was being lifted down those steps, I really did," Dillon recently told The Associated Press. "It was so awesome. I don't think I can ever replace that feeling, coming out of there after so many years of feeling I never, ever would."

Dillon, 50, walked out of the Brevard County jail last November after tests showed that DNA found on the killer's shirt -- which investigators found at the crime scene, splattered with the victim's blood -- wasn't his. A month later, prosecutors announced they wouldn't retry him for the 1981 bludgeoning death of James Dvorak, and his conviction was erased. 'Dillon, one of more than 200 inmates exonerated by DNA nationwide, plans to move to Tallahassee soon so he can be available during those hearings. Under the state's automatic formula, Dillon would receive $1.35 million - $50,000 for every year in prison.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/21541239/detail.html

[ClayZ]

1. K and R

[Flaneur]

2. Why should an old drug conviction disqualify him from getting reparations?

The reparation is for the state stealing his life.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. As I understand it, it only applies to someone without prior convictions (felonies?)

[Zix]

4. Because good and evil are actually a kind of see saw

So if someone does something bad to you it's not bad if you're already bad.

:crazy:

Or something.