Maryland man who spent 32 years in prison wrongly convicted of 1981 murders gets $2.9m

Maryland Board of Public Works approves compensation for John Huffington

A Maryland man will be paid nearly $3m, after he spent 32 years in prison – including a decade on death row – for two murders he didn’t commit.

The Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved the $2.9m in compensation for John Huffington, who was wrongly imprisoned for the 1981 “Memorial Day Murders,” in which Diane Becker was stabbed to death and her boyfriend Joseph Hudson was fatally shot in Harford County.

Mr Huffington was pardoned in January by former governor Larry Hogan.

“My quest was for my name,” Mr Huffington told ABC News this year following his pardon. “It’s kind of unfathomable to explain that to somebody that hasn’t experienced it. But when they take your name, they take everything. And I just, I had to keep fighting.

His conviction was in part based on the testimony of a second suspect in the case, who was convicted of murder. The main thrust of prosecutors, however, rested on analysis of hair found at the scene of the murder, which officials claim matched Mr Huffington.

A Washington Post investigation found that the FBI agent who analysed the hair may not have used proper science or even tested the hair sample at all, findings contained in a 1999 report that prosecutors did not share with Mr Huffington’s lawyers. A state’s attorney involved in the case was later disbarred over the scandal.

In the meantime, the Maryland man appealed his sentence multiple times, but was eventually sentenced to death, a punishment later converted to two life sentences.

In 2013, he was released from Patuxent Institution after serving 32 years.

John Huffington, a Maryland man who was wrongly imprisoned (ABC News screengrab)

In approving the compensation, Maryland officials praised Mr Huffington for devoting himself to service after getting out of prison. The man worked at Second Chance, a nonprofit that helps people with barriers to employment, and worked at organisations focused on job training and ending income inequality.

“He was robbed of time being spent away from family and loved ones, holidays, birthdays, missed milestones, opportunities denied — injustice, time and time again,” governor Wes Moore said on Wednesday as the compensation was approved, according to the Associated Press.

“John has become a friend,” he added. “I’m thankful not just because he is willing to share his story, but he’s been willing to take his pain and turn it into service.”

Mr Huffington spent a total of 11,575 incarcerated, according to The Baltimore Banner.

“I recognise that no dollar amount can ever make up for what was stolen from you, but I hope that today’s action brings some solace, some vindication,” state comptroller Brooke Lierman said on Wednesday. “It’s wonderful to see you living life to its full potential.”

As The Independent has reported, numerous death row cases contain evidence of police and prosecutorial misconduct dating back decades, and only a small portion of death row inmates are able to successfully appeal.

In the modern era of the death penalty, America has executed more than 1,500 people. But a staggering number of those on death row have done nothing wrong.

Since the mid-1970s, about one wrongfully convicted person on death row has been exonerated for every 8.3 who are executed, according to a groundbreaking analysis from the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

The Independent and the nonprofit Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) have launched a joint campaign calling for an end to death penalty in the US. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to their Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty - with The Independent as the latest on the list. We join high-profile executives like Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as part of this initiative and are making a pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage.