After spending 44 years in prison following a wrongful conviction by a North Carolina jury for raping a woman in 1976, a man has settled his lawsuit against state and local law enforcement with $25 million in damages of dollars.
The agreement – reports the New York Times – includes a public apology to Ronnie Long, 68, from the city of Concord, which recognizes that “significant errors of judgment and intentional misconduct” on the part of previous city employees have led to his wrongful conviction and incarceration.
“We are deeply sorry for the wrongs of the past that caused enormous harm to Long, his family, his friends and our community,” the City Council said in a statement.
«Long has long suffered from the loss of freedom and a substantial part of his life», we read further in the note, which specifies that «he has unjustly served 44 years, 3 months and 17 days in prison for a crime that he did not commit.” And “even if there is no way to fully restore what was taken from him, with this agreement we are doing everything in our power to right the wrongs of the past and take responsibility.”