A Black North Carolina man who spent 44 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping a prominent white woman has been awarded a historic $25 million settlement more than three years after he was exonerated.
Ronnie Long, 68, settled his civil lawsuit with the city of Concord, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, for $22 million, the city said in a news release Tuesday. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation had previously settled for $3 million, according to Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic.
The clinic, which represented Long, said the settlement is the second largest wrongful conviction settlement recorded.
"It’s, obviously, a celebratory day today knowing that Ronnie’s going to have his means met for the rest of his life with this settlement. It’s been a long road to get to this point so that’s a great outcome," clinical professor Jamie Lau, Long's criminal attorney, said in a phone interview Tuesday.
"Have we found justice in this case? Absolutely not. No amount of money will ever compensate Ronnie for all that he lost, but this is a big step forward for him," Lau said.
The city also issued a rare public apology to Long.
"We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends and our community. Mr. Long suffered the extraordinary loss of his freedom and a substantial portion of his life because of this conviction," the city said. "He wrongly served 44 years, 3 months and 17 days in prison for a crime he did not commit."
They said there was no physical evidence tying Long to the rape and burglary and he did not match the original description of the suspect — a "yellow or really light-skinned Black male." A rape kit collected at the hospital and provided to Concord police went missing and has never been found, Long's attorneys said.
They said the prosecution’s main piece of evidence was the victim identifying Long weeks after the attack and it was "the product of a suggestive identification procedure arranged by the police to target Long."
There were also numerous pieces of evidence from the scene, including suspect hair and 43 fingerprints, that could have helped exonerate him, according to his attorneys. The evidence, which they said did not belong to Long, was tested by investigators but not disclosed. The attorneys also accused Concord police officers of giving false testimony about the evidence at Long's trial.
44yrs for a crime you didn't commit and all it took was a white woman to say, "He did it".
Why isn't the false accuser being locked up for 44yrs? What does she have to pay?
Why aren't the crooked ass cops being prosecuted?
Why isn't the crooked ass prosecutor being prosecuted?
You want to talk about a 2 tier Justice System, this is a fine example of it.
Ronnie Long, 68, settled his civil lawsuit with the city of Concord, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, for $22 million, the city said in a news release Tuesday. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation had previously settled for $3 million, according to Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic.
The clinic, which represented Long, said the settlement is the second largest wrongful conviction settlement recorded.
"It’s, obviously, a celebratory day today knowing that Ronnie’s going to have his means met for the rest of his life with this settlement. It’s been a long road to get to this point so that’s a great outcome," clinical professor Jamie Lau, Long's criminal attorney, said in a phone interview Tuesday.
"Have we found justice in this case? Absolutely not. No amount of money will ever compensate Ronnie for all that he lost, but this is a big step forward for him," Lau said.
The city also issued a rare public apology to Long.
"We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends and our community. Mr. Long suffered the extraordinary loss of his freedom and a substantial portion of his life because of this conviction," the city said. "He wrongly served 44 years, 3 months and 17 days in prison for a crime he did not commit."
They said there was no physical evidence tying Long to the rape and burglary and he did not match the original description of the suspect — a "yellow or really light-skinned Black male." A rape kit collected at the hospital and provided to Concord police went missing and has never been found, Long's attorneys said.
They said the prosecution’s main piece of evidence was the victim identifying Long weeks after the attack and it was "the product of a suggestive identification procedure arranged by the police to target Long."
There were also numerous pieces of evidence from the scene, including suspect hair and 43 fingerprints, that could have helped exonerate him, according to his attorneys. The evidence, which they said did not belong to Long, was tested by investigators but not disclosed. The attorneys also accused Concord police officers of giving false testimony about the evidence at Long's trial.
44yrs for a crime you didn't commit and all it took was a white woman to say, "He did it".
Why isn't the false accuser being locked up for 44yrs? What does she have to pay?
Why aren't the crooked ass cops being prosecuted?
Why isn't the crooked ass prosecutor being prosecuted?
You want to talk about a 2 tier Justice System, this is a fine example of it.
