The city of New York has agreed to pay $26 million to two men who were wrongly convicted and spent decades in prison.
An additional $10 million will be paid by the state. DavidShanies confirmed the settlements on Sunday.
There were unjust convictions for more than 50 years for Muhammad Aziz and his family. The Comptroller's Office and the Corporation Counsel moved quickly to resolve the lawsuits because the city recognized the grave injustice done here.
The settlements send a message that police and prosecutorial malfeasance can cause tremendous damage, and we must remain vigilant to identify and correct injustice.
New evidence of witness intimidation and suppression of exculpatory evidence led to the dismissal of the convictions of the men. The District Attorney apologized for law enforcement's violations of law and the public trust.
The New York City Law Department stood by the opinion that the men were wrongly convicted and the financial agreement brought some measure of justice to individuals who spent decades in prison and bore the stigma of being wrongly accused of murdering an icon.
The New York court that handles probate matters will have to approve the settlement over the next few weeks. The $36 million will be split evenly between the two.
The two men who were wrongly convicted in the Audubon Ballroom killing were released from prison in the 1980s.
The voice of the Nation of Islam was that of Malcolm X, who encouraged black people to claim their civil rights. The book he wrote with Alex Haley is a classic work of American literature.
After a trip to Mecca, Malcolm X began speaking about the potential for racial unity. He was seen as a traitor by some in the Nation of Islam.
He was killed while giving a speech. The man was 39 years old.
The three men were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison. They were given life sentences.
The third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim, also known as Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan, admitted to shooting Malcolm X, but he did not say who was responsible. There was no proof that the two were involved in the crime. There were discrepancies in the testimony of the witnesses.
When Malcolm X was killed, attorneys for the two men said that they were at their homes in the Bronx. The hardship and indignity of being wrongly branded as a murderer of one of the most important civil rights leaders in the history of the world made it difficult for him to live.
Islam died trying to clear his name after spending 22 years in prison.
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