Brothers get $75 million after serving 31 years in prison for crime they didn’t commit
Updated May 15, 2021;
Henry McCollum and Leon Brown spent nearly 31 years in prison for a brutal crime they did not commit one they were convicted of on the basis of confessions that they insisted, for decades, had been coerced.
In a federal courtroom in Raleigh late Friday afternoon, after nearly five hours of deliberation, a jury delivered the half brothers a sense of long-awaited justice.
An eight-person jury awarded McCollum and Brown $31 million each in compensatory damages $1 million for every year they spent in prison after they were wrongfully convicted, twice, of the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Red Springs. McCollum and Brown, both intellectually-disabled with IQs in the 50s, were teenagers when they were charged after they signed confessions they insisted they didn’t understand.
$11m settlement for two brothers wrongfully sent to death row
Lawyers representing two former North Carolina sheriffâs deputies agreed to a US$9 million (A$11 million) settlement with two intellectually disabled half brothers who spent decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted in the 1983 killing of an 11-year-old girl.
The lawyers for former Robeson County Sheriffâs Office deputies James Locklear and Kenneth Sealey agreed in federal court to the settlement with Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, who will split the settlement between them, The
News & Observer of Raleigh reported.
County Attorney Rob Davis said in an email to the newspaper that the insurance companies that cover the sheriff s office will pay the settlement.
Updated: 6:48 PM EDT May 15, 2021
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Show Transcript LATEST FROM THE GAZA STRIP. WELL, THIS IS THE FIRST FULL DAY WHERE THERE ARE NO LONGER MASK AND SOCIAL DISTORTED DISTANCING MANDATES BY EXECUTIVE ORDER IN OUR IN MOST SITUATIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINIANS WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19 GOVERNOR ROY COOPER ALSO LIFTED CAPACITY LIMITS FOR BUSINESSES. HE SAYS THAT VACCINATIONS HELPED US GET THERE ALONG WITH LOWER CASE COUNTS AND HOSPITALIZATION RATES THE ANNOUNCEMENT FALLS RIGHT IN LINE WITH NEW GUIDANCE FROM THE CDC LOOSENING ITS MASS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THOSE WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED. THEY CALMS 437 DAYS AFTER THE FIRST CASE OF COVID-19 WAS REPORTED IN, NORTH CAROLINA. WELL, THERE ARE SOME PLACES WHERE FACE COVER. ARE STILL REQUIRED THAT INCLUDES PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION HEALTHCARE SETTINGS, LIKE HOSPITALS NURSING HOMES AND DOCTORS OFFICES. YOU’LL ALSO STILL NEED TO WEAR A MASK AT A CORRECTIONAL FACILITY HOMELESS SHELTER CHILD CARE FACILITIES AT
$9M settlement for 2 men wrongfully sent to death row
May 14, 2021
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1of3FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2014 file photo, Henry McCollum walks out of prison after being released from Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C. Lawyers representing two former North Carolina sheriff’s deputies agreed on Friday, May 14, 2021, to a $9 million settlement with McCollum and his half brother Leon Brown, who spent decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted in the 1983 killing of an 11-year-old girl.Michael Biesecker/APShow MoreShow Less
2of3FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2014 file photo, Leon Brown speaks with a reporter at the Maury Correctional Institution in Maury, N.C., about his incarceration. Lawyers representing two former North Carolina sheriff’s deputies agreed on Friday, May 14, 2021, to a $9 million settlement with Brown and his half brother Henry McCollum, who spent decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted in the 1983 killing of an 11-year-old