An innocent Maryland man received an apology from the state and approval for a $340,000 settlement after he was wrongly convicted of two violent crimes and imprisoned for more than five years.
Demetrius Smith was wrongly convicted of first-degree assault and murder in 2008 when he was just 25. Smith spent more than five years in prison, including a full year after his innocence had been proven. More than 10 years after his 2013 release, he finally received an apology from Gov. Wes Moore, the state’s first Black governor, and the Board of Public Works.
Moore apologized directly to Smith on Sept. 20 during a Board of Public Works hearing to determine a compensation settlement, according to CBS News.
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“We’re here today more than 10 years after he was released from incarceration, providing Mr. Smith with long overdue justice that he was deprived of, an apology from the state of Maryland that until today he’s never received,” said Moore. “I am deeply sorry for the fact that our justice system failed you not once, but our justice system failed you twice, and while no amount of money can make up for what was taken from you, the action this board is taking today represents a formal acknowledgment from the state for the injustice that was caused.”
Moore was arrested in Baltimore in 2008 and charged with killing Robert Long, a murder he did not commit, and despite the judge at his bail hearing saying the case was “probably the thinnest case” he’d ever seen, the prosecution moved forward with the case using testimony from a witness who was not even present at the scene of the crime. While out on bail, he was arrested for assault based on witness testimony that was later recanted. Smith was convicted of murder in 2010. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 18 years.
Smith entered an Alford plea…
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