Attorney General opposes pay for 'factually innocent' man who served five years in prison - San Jose Mercury News
Cleared of armed robbery after being locked in prison for five years, Jeffrey Rodriguez thought he had proved he had nothing to do with the crime. After all, a judge ruled he was "factually innocent,'' an extremely rare decision that wiped the case clean off his record.Technorati Tags: innocence, wrongful conviction, compensation, prison
But now the state Attorney General's Office is opposing Rodriguez's effort to get the standard $100-a-day payment for those who are wrongfully incarcerated — $138,100 in his case — saying the San Jose father hasn't proved he was mistreated by the system. The office is opposed even though Rodriguez's case has been extensively litigated, including two trials, an appellate court decision in his favor and the 2007 factual-innocence finding.
Rodriguez had been counting on the state money to fulfill his dream of owning a barbershop and to help out relatives who sold a home to pay his legal fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment