New Mexico—A man who spent nearly two years in a county jail’s solitary cell will receive a $15.5 million settlement after a federal jury ruled that his rights to adequate medical attention and due process had been violated. Stephen Slevn, 58 was originally arrested in August 2005 on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and driving a stolen car, reports The Los Angeles Times.
Maryland—The state Senate voted 27-20 to end capital punishment and replace it with life in prison without parole. If the bill is finally approved, Maryland would be the 18th state to abolish capital punishment and the sixth to act since 2007.
San Luis Obispo—After spending 36 years behind bars, famed Tower of Power singer Rick Stevens was released from prison. In 1976, Stevens was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of first-degree murder.
Wilmington, Del.—The American Civil Liberties Union has filed court papers seeking to enforce protections of women prisoners from sexual assault. A court ordered prison officials to make reforms in 2011. Some of the changes ordered were more security cameras, and policies requiring two employees to be present before entering a cell occupied by only one prisoner, reports The Associated Press.
Denver—Robert Dewey spend nearly two decades locked up for a rape he didn’t commit. Dewey was eventually freed after DNA evidence proved he was not the rapist. He was living off food stamps and charity when the state Legislature began working on a bill that will compensate people who can prove they were wrongly imprisoned with at least $70,000 for every year behind bars, according to The Associated Press.
Hartford, Conn—The Connecticut Post reports arrests and incarceration rates for juvenile offenders have fallen off sharply due to “a series of community collaborations that discourage juvenile crime.” The state’s plan of using community-based programs rather than juvenile jails has been cost-effective while cutting sharply into both overall crime and incidents of violence, the report said.
LosAngeles—The 124-year sentence of Andrew Luster, the great-grandson of cosmetic giant Max Factor, was vacated and he is scheduled to have a hearing for a new sentence, reports The Los Angles Times. Luster was convicted on 86 counts of rape and drug charges in 2003. The judge said his unusually long sentence needs to be reconsidered.
Cincinnati, Ohio—David Ayers was awarded $13.2 million after a federal jury found that two Cleveland police detectives violated his civil rights by coercing and falsifying testimony and withholding evidence that would have exonerated him. Ayers was convicted of killing Dorothy Brown, 76, in 1999. He was released from prison in 2011, after spending 13 years incarcerated.
Oakland—A judge has exonerated two men within three weeks for wrongful convictions. Ronald Ross, 51, spent seven years incarcerated. New evidence showed he did not shoot a man in West Oakland. Johnny Williams, 37 was freed after prosecutors conceded errors in the Williams’ conviction for raping a 9-year-old girl on her way to school in East Oakland, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.
Huntsville, Texas—Carl Henry Blue, 48 was put to death Feb. 22 for killing his ex-girlfriend, Carmen Richards-Sanders, 38, reports Reuters. The lethal injection was the state’s first execution this year.
New York—Jabbar Collins spent 16 years in prison for a murder a federal court overturned. He was freed in 2010, reports The Associated Press. Collins is now suing Brooklyn police and prosecutors for $150 million for pressuring a witness to falsely implicate him in the murder.
Annapolis, Md.—The state Senate has approved a measure to end the death penalty that the House and Gov. Martin O’Malley support, reports The Associated Press. Opponents of capital punishment claim the death penalty is “costly, prone to error, racially biased and a poor deterrent of crime, while supporters insisted it must be an option for criminals who commit the ‘worst of the worst’ of crimes,” The AP reports.
Lucasville, Ohio—A single dose of pentobarbital was used to execute Frederick Treesh on March 6. Treesh was convicted for killing a security guard in an adult book store during a crime spree nearly 20 years ago.