Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were convicted of the murder and rape of an 11-year-old girl in 1985 – when the brothers were 19 and 15 years old, respectively. They were initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
The girl, named Sabrina Buie, was found dead in a field behind a grocery store in 1983, raped and strangled.
Rekordsum
It is now clear that a court in Raleigh, North Carolina, has reached a settlement with the brothers, which was acquitted in 2014.
On Friday, a jury concluded that the brothers will receive more than 600 million Norwegian kroner in total in compensation after they both had to spend 31 years in prison.
Abused family – must pay 11 million
The brothers’ lawyer, Elliot S. Abrams, informs The Washington Post that it is the highest amount paid in the United States as a result of an erroneous judgment ever.
“The jury could not have sent a stronger message that the country’s citizens will not tolerate crimes from the judiciary, and will no longer blindly believe the testimonies from the judiciary about marginalized groups,” he said.
Was acquitted
The brothers were summoned for questioning after the murder in 1983 as a result of a tip from a “confidential informant” – a 17-year-old classmate who told about rumors she had heard at school, writes The Guardian.
McCollum and Brown could neither read nor write. Nevertheless, they were questioned for hours without a lawyer before signing two confessions that they themselves did not understand, they claim.
ACQUITTED: Leon Brown was convicted in 1985. Now he receives millions in compensation. Photo: NTB / Chuck Liddy / The News & Observer
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The brothers have always claimed to be innocent. In 2009, the case was reopened by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, an independent organization investigating possible homicides.
The organization discovered that there was DNA residue on a cigarette butt found at the scene. The DNA corresponded with a third man who was convicted in a similar case of murder and rape that had taken place just one month after the murder of Buie.
