Two California men who were convicted 19 years ago for a crime they did not commit have finally been declared innocent by the courts. A judge has noted that since another person confessed to the crime, their records should be wiped clean — and they should receive compensation for each day of incarceration.
Dupree Glass, 36 and Juan Rayford, 37, who were locked up as teenagers, will now receive $140 for each day of the almost 17 years they served behind bars for a 2004 attempted murder.
A new law sets each man up to receive from the state’s Victims Compensation Board about $900,000 in restitution, according to CBS News, now that their innocence has been officially declared.
The case was brought before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke, who made the life-changing decision.
“I find that Mr. Rayford and Mr. Glass were not shooters, nor did they aid and abet the actual shooters,” he said from his bench according to ABC 7.
Lawyers for the men say their client’s case is the first one to benefit from the new law that guarantees compensation for defendants whose cases have been dismissed and are able to present evidence that proves innocence.
Glass and Rayford both had their convictions vacated in 2020 after a state appeals panel was disrupted by a dramatic confession from a man who declared himself the gunman in the 2004 shooting which left two teenagers injured.
Chad Brandon McZeal, a gang member already serving a life conviction for an unrelated murder, shattered the prosecution’s case with his testimony. As a result, the men were allowed to walk free for the first time since Glass was 17 and Rayford was 18.
A trial to determine their innocence started in October 2022 and culminated on April 20, 2023.
“I thought about this day for so long. I thought about it when I was locked up for 17 years. I thought about it for my last two years being free. I waited for this day because, you know, I knew I was…
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