JUSTICE LONG DELAYED IS STILL SWEET

Last week, a federal jury awarded $80,000,000 to the estate of a deceased member of the “Buffalo 5,” the largest sum for a wrongful conviction in U.S. history.  The case involved four wrongful convictions in 1977 triggered by the false confession to homicide of a fifth man who was granted immunity for pointing the finger at his friends and himself.  Earlier this year, the only surviving member of the four wrongly convicted was awarded $28,000,000 in a separate trial.  (I am proud to have testified as a false confessions expert in both cases.)