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Bittersweet pic of Ricky Jackson and his lawyers upon
hearing his case dismissed. Thirty-nine years behind bars for
a crime he didn't commit.
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Court of Claims: Exonerated Murder Suspect Granted $1 Million for Wrongful Imprisonment
Ricky Jackson v. State of Ohio Case. No. 2015-00127
The court granted partial judgment to Ricky Jackson, 59, for the 14,178 days he spent in prison for a murder he did not commit. The Court of Claims filed a request with the State Controlling Board to transfer $1,008,055.80 to pay Jackson.
Jackson had his death sentence overturned and was released from an Ohio state prison in November 2014 after the key witness in the case against him recanted his story. Jackson was convicted of the 1975 murder of Harold Franks and maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. Eddie Vernon, who was 12 at the time of the murder, revealed to a Cleveland newspaper in 2012 that he had lied about Jackson and 2 other men's involvement in the murder because he wanted to help the police. His remarks led to Jackson receiving a new trial.
On February 12, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court ruled that Jackson established he was wrongfully imprisoned, and Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy McGinty did not appeal the ruling.
Jackson then presented the appropriate certification to the Court of Claims on Feb. 20. Court of Claims Judge Patrick M. McGrath ruled that pursuant to R.C. 2743.49 the state auditor's office calculated the current annual rate of compensation for a wrongfully imprisoned person is $51,902. During a status conference Wednesday, Judge McGrath said the state and Jackson's attorney Michele L. Berry, verified the number of days wrongfully incarcerated at 14,178.
Judge McGrath then issued a preliminary judgment that calls for the payment of 50 % of the calculated damages, which amounted to just more than $1 million, and directed the money be sent to Berry to establish an annuity account to pay Jackson for "damages for physical injury caused by wrongful imprisonment."
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, at the time of his release Jackson was considered the longest-serving person in the nation's history to be exonerated for his crime.
The Court of Claims is given original jurisdiction to hear and determine all civil actions filed against the state of Ohio and its agencies.
Source: Court News Ohio, March 20, 2015
Ohio court awards wrongly imprisoned man over $1 million
A man who was sentenced to death for a killing he didn't commit and spent nearly 4 decades behind bars will receive more than $1 million from the state for wrongful imprisonment, a court ruled Thursday.
Ricky Jackson, 58, was 1 of 3 men sent to death row in 1975 after being convicted of aggravated murder in the slaying of a businessman outside a corner store in Cleveland. Cuyahoga County prosecutors at the time relied on the testimony of a 13-year-old boy to convict Jackson and 2 brothers who were Jackson's best friends.
The boy, Eddie Vernon, said he saw the slaying, but he was in a school bus with other children about a block away when the businessman was shot. The now-grown Vernon signed an affidavit that the Ohio Innocence Project filed last March, saying police coerced him into testifying against Jackson, Wiley Bridgeman and Ronnie Bridgeman, now known as Kwame Ajamu.
Based on the recantation and corroborating testimony that Vernon lied in 1975, a judge dismissed the charges against the three men in November.
Jackson's payment comes after a judge ruled last month that all three men were entitled to compensation. The Court of Claims ordered the state to pay Jackson $1,008,055 for the nearly 39 years he spent in state prison. When Jackson was released in November he was believed to have served the longest sentence for someone wrongfully convicted.
Neither Jackson nor his attorney could be reached for comment on Thursday.
Wiley Bridgeman also was released from prison in November. He originally was paroled in 2002 but was sent back to prison several months later after an argument with a parole officer. Ajamu was paroled in 2003.
Bridgeman and Ajamu haven't received their compensation yet.
The men's slow march toward exoneration got its initial boost in 2011, after an investigation by Scene magazine.
Source: MSNBC, March 20, 2015
