A California man who was released from prison in 2017 after serving 39 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit was awarded a $21 million settlement. Craig Coley was convicted of killing 24-year-old Rhonda Wicht and her four-year-old son in 1978. Coley was pardoned by former California Governor Jerry Brown, and a judge ruled he was innocent of the double-murder.
Officials in Simi Valley had asked Brown to pardon Coley after they discovered "biological samples" from the original case in a private lab. The evidence was supposed to be destroyed following Coley's conviction, but luckily for him, it was saved. A test on the DNA did not match Coley's, forcing officials to reopen the case.
"A key piece of evidence used to convict (the) defendant was found to not contain his DNA, but to instead contain the DNA of other individuals," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
Coley was awarded $2 million from the California Victim Compensation Board in 2018, and Simi Valley decided to settle with Coley to avoid a lengthy and expensive legal battle.
"While no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community," City Manager Eric Levitt said in a statement.
The city will pay $4.9 million to Coley while the rest of the sum will be covered by the city's insurance.