Ronnie Long, a Black man wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman in North Carolina, has been awarded a historic $25 million settlement after spending 44 years in prison.
The city of Concord settled for $22 million, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation settled for $3 million.
Long’s attorneys highlighted issues with his trial, including the removal of Black potential jurors, the disappearance of crucial evidence, and suggestive identification procedures. (Trending: Fox News Star Accused Of Major Scandal)
In 2020, his conviction was overturned, and he was released.
Jamie Lau, Long’s criminal attorney, said, “It’s, obviously, a celebratory day today knowing that Ronnie’s going to have his means met for the rest of his life with this settlement. It’s been a long road to get to this point, so that’s a great outcome.”
“Have we found justice in this case? Absolutely not. No amount of money will ever compensate Ronnie for all that he lost, but this is a big step forward for him,” he continued.
“We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends and our community. Mr. Long suffered the extraordinary loss of his freedom and a substantial portion of his life because of this conviction,” wrote the city in a statement.
“He wrongly served 44 years, 3 months and 17 days in prison for a crime he did not commit,” continued the government.
“While there are no measures to fully restore to Mr. Long and his family all that was taken from them, through this agreement we are doing everything in our power to right the past wrongs and take responsibility,” the officials wrote.
“We are hopeful this can begin the healing process for Mr. Long and our community, and that together we can move forward while learning valuable lessons and ensuring nothing like this ever happens again,” concluded the statement.
Sonya Pfeiffer, one of Long’s civil attorneys, said, “All of us on Ronnie’s team were very pleased with the responsiveness by the city of Concord. He also got a private apology, a direct apology, which was meaningful, too.”
“One thing he recognizes is that he’s in a position of power now where he’s achieved a record settlement financially, so that sets the bar for others,” Pfeiffer continued.
“If that could be the gold standard for all of these cases, that may be the closest that exonerees get to justice,” she concluded.
Long and his attorneys hope his case sets a standard for handling similar wrongful conviction cases and have been advocating for criminal justice reform.
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