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A Missouri man convicted of a triple murder 40 years ago can spend this holiday season at home with his family. Court ruled that he was illegally convicted..
Despite being a victim of the state, he does not receive any form of compensation from the state for compensation. However, GoFundMe Release The $ 7,500 target for the Summer Midwest Innocence Project far exceeds the nonprofit target.
On Tuesday, November 23, Kevin Strickland was convicted of more than 40 years of murder in 1979 by a “Shommy” state judge. Previously ignored evidence was submitted by a Jackson County prosecutor and was the key to acquisition. Strickland’s new freedom.
State lawyer Jean Peters Baker said of the victory: This finally brings justice to a man who has tragically suffered enormously as a result of this tort conviction. “
As Strickland left the West Missouri Correction Center, he told the next group about his feelings. Reporter..
“I’m not necessarily angry. It’s a lot. I think you’ve created emotions you don’t know yet,” he said at the age of 62. “Joy, sadness, fear. I’m trying to find a way to combine them.”
He further promised to work on criminal justice reform, hoping that this could be prevented from “occurring to someone else.”
Judge James Welsh said he was presented with “clear and compelling evidence” that “damages the court’s confidence in the conviction.”
The community also gathered around the story of Strickland to help him return to normal when Strickland began to return to society. GoFundMe has reached $ 1.1 million, just $ 100,000 below its new $ 1.2 million target. Many donors each donated $ 5,000.
One donor left a comment requesting a change. “This release, after years of imprisonment without compensation, is wrong at many levels. This practice only supports bad practices by prosecutors and is in a similar position to others. It rarely helps people. It takes some accountability for wrong decisions. Let’s change the law! “
The other was overjoyed at Strickland. “You deserve every penny. I can’t imagine 43 years robbing your millionaire !!”
Strickland, who has remained innocent for a long time, was convicted without physical evidence linking him to the murder. The court sent him almost two-thirds of his life, based on the testimony of a woman. The woman later withdrew her testimony on her deathbed.
His younger brothers Roland Strickland and Warren Thornton said this was a 43-year nightmare. KSHB Strickland said: “At that time, I will never forget that month. My birthday is April. I am just 16 years old, and you will take my brother away for the rest of my life,” he said. “He wasn’t even a man. He would probably tell you he was, but I mean he was a boy in age. He was 18 years old.”
Strickland also revealed that his brother was sentenced to 1979, but he was trapped before the trial.
Thornton said: “He couldn’t see his daughter, son. He couldn’t meet my children. The way the world changed, the simple things we take for granted, he’s those I didn’t have any. 43 years of progress he missed. “
He missed the growth of the children in his family, but the most painful thing he missed was not seeing his mother before his death on August 21, 2021. Rosetta Thornton was 85 years old.
“She was a fighter, but now she’s crying. She’s crying with joy and smiling at him. That shouldn’t be the case,” Strickland said. “It’s painful that she couldn’t get it done after years of holding up her son’s innocence and coming home, as he said.”
Missouri has “one of the strictest compensation laws in our country,” according to Missouri Parliamentarian Richard Brown, because the compensation law for those who have been unfairly convicted varies from state to state.
According to Bakersfield.com, state compensation law only allocates payments to prisoners who have proven innocent by certain DNA tests. The state does not even provide support to ensure counseling or treatment for the trauma he experienced while in prison. They are also not eligible for social services such as state-wide publicly funded medical care.
Prosecutors who worked to free Strickland said Missouri should expand its compensation law “especially when it knows the system has made a mistake.”
Currently, Strickland relies on the support of civilians and nonprofits raising funds on his behalf.
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