Wrongfully Imprisoned For Three Decades, Brothers To Receive $1.37 Million Compensation

In a severe miscarriage of justice, two black men lost three decades of their youth after being convicted of a murder they never committed. Henry McCollum and his half-brother Leon Brown, were convicted of rape and murder of an 11 year old, Sabrina Buie and spent their days in death row. With new DNA evidence linking the murder to a serial killer who lived nearby, the two men were pardoned by Governor Pat McCrory in North Carolina.

McCollum and Brown, who were teenagers at the time of the murder were convicted of first degree murder and rape. McCollum was on death row and Brown was sentenced to life imprisonment. According to Reuters, the fact that the teenagers were mentally disabled was conveniently overlooked and their confessions were allegedly coerced. The DNA evidence found near the crime scene identified the killer as Roscoe Artis who is currently serving a life imprisonment in a North Carolina prison. Artis would go on to commit another murder because of this costly oversight.

None of the DNA collected at the scene was linked to Brown and McCollum. Governor McCrory issuing the pardon said, “it was the right thing to do.” The two brothers would receive more than $1 million in compensation for wrongful imprisonment. But for them the windfall represents very little. McCollum said, “It ain’t about money. It was about just being able to see that I was innocent of a crime I was charged with. It was just a blessing to be out here, to live a normal life,” reports The New York Times. The compensation need to be approved by the state agency which is seen more as a formality.

The travesty of justice has not impressed the prosecutor Joe Freeman Britt of Robeson County who was instrumental in putting Brown and McCollum behind bars. He is not swayed by the DNA evidence and is convinced of their guilt. Ken Rose, a senior attorney with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, who represented McCollum, said "We must re-examine a system that let an innocent man sit on death row for 30 years," reports Reuters.

Brown and McCollum walk to freedom but the years lost have taken their toll. Both missed many things like learning to drive, using a cell phone or being with their families.

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