Kevin Strickland was released from a Missouri prison on Tuesday after being wrongly convicted in a 1978 triple murder, but he was ineligible for compensation from the state because he spent 43 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit.
Donations have been pouring in from supporters after a campaign was set up to help the man who was taken into custody when he was just 18 years old.
The campaign had raised over a million dollars by Saturday afternoon.
According to The Washington Post on Friday, the attorney for the Midwest Innocence Project said that people from around the world have helped her client.
If an individual's innocence is proven as a result of DNA testing, the state of Missouri will allow compensation from the state, but only if the individual's innocence is proven.
"It's a very small group of people who get that," he said. The vast majority of exonerations are due to non-DNA evidence and the vast majority of crimes do not involve DNA at all. Folks get home and are provided nothing.
He is 62 years old and has physical problems. He's not going to be able to work the way other people would. She said that this has to be something to sustain him.
Judge James Welsh ruled that the conviction should be thrown out because there was no evidence to link him to the crime.
The judge wrote that the conviction of Strickland must be set aside because of the unique circumstances.
The criminal charges against Jean Baker Peters were quickly dismissed in order to facilitate the release.
Two of the state's top officeholders offered a different view of the case, despite the concerted push for Strickland's release.
In June, the governor said that a pardon for Strickland was not a priority, as there were other clemency cases that needed to be reviewed.
The Department ofCorrections will proceed with Mr. Strickland's release immediately after the court has made its decision.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who is running for the Senate seat being left by Roy Blunt in the Republican primary in 2022, maintained that he was guilty of the crimes.
The rule of law and the decision of the jury were defended in this case. No further action will be taken after the court has spoken.
Despite family members presenting alibis for him, he was still convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murders of three people.
According to The Associated Press, the case was constructed around the testimony of a witness who died and recanted her testimony.
He told a group of reporters that he had always maintained his innocence and that he had learned of the court's decision while watching television.
I'm not angry. It's a lot. I think I've created some emotions that you don't know about. There was joy, sorrow, and fear. He told reporters that he was trying to figure out how to put them together.
He visited his mother's grave after he was released.
