What’s Next, Now That The State Admitted That You Were Innocent All Along?

Finding out that the court has exonerated you of a crime you did not commit can feel like waking up from a nightmare. The difference is that, when you wake up from a nightmare, the bad things you dreamed about never happened except in your dream. If you get exonerated after spending six years in prison for a wrongful conviction, nothing can change the fact that, from the time you were 23 until you were 29, you were behind bars instead of gaining professional experience and earning employment income that turned into home equity or is accruing interest in a savings account. The state that wrongfully convicted you cannot give you back the time you lost because of the wrongful conviction, but it can compensate you for the money you lost by being punished for a crime you did not commit. Florida’s Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act recently underwent amendments that make it easier for wrongfully convicted people to receive monetary compensation for the injustice they have suffered. If you were wrongfully convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison time, contact a Tampa criminal defense lawyer.

The New Amendment to the Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act

Florida was one of the first states to enact a law that grants wrongfully convicted people financial compensation for the time they spent in prison for crimes that they did not commit. Pursuant to the Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Act, exonerated people who were incarcerated as a result of their wrongful conviction have the right to receive $50,000 per year for each year they spent in prison. The problem is that the original version of the law came with so much red tape that it left fewer than ten percent of exonerees eligible for compensation. In the 16 years that the law has been on the books, only five people have received compensation through it, even though dozens of wrongfully convicted defendants have been exonerated. Some exonerated defendants recovered compensation through civil lawsuits against the police departments that violated their rights during the investigation that led to the wrongful conviction.

This year, one of the laws that went into effect in July was SB 130, which amends the Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act. It extends the deadline for requesting compensation to two years after the date of exoneration; it was previously 90 days after the date of exoneration. Likewise, if you have conviction records unrelated to your wrongful conviction, you are probably still eligible to recover compensation. Prior convictions only exclude you from eligibility for compensation if you have more than one violent felony conviction.

Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven

A criminal defense lawyer can help you get justice if you received a wrongful conviction because of a violation of your Fourth Amendment or Sixth Amendment rights or because exculpatory evidence emerged after your trial.  Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.

Sources:

innocenceproject.org/news/floridas-restrictive-compensation-law-fails-the-innocent-people-for-whom-it-was-intended/

flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/130