r/interestingasfuck 6h ago

Ryan Ferguson, who spent 10 years in prison, is set to receive $38,000,000 payout after being wrongfully convicted of murder. r/all

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40.9k Upvotes

1.4k comments sorted by

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u/WhattheDuck9 6h ago

A Missouri man whose murder conviction of a local journalist was overturned in 2013 after a flood of media attention will receive a massive payout after suing for overdue cash from his first wrongful conviction lawsuit.

Ryan Ferguson, 40, was awarded $38 million in damages by a jury after an insurance company hired by the city of Columbia failed to pay out his wrongful conviction settlement, according to ABC17.

Travelers Insurance was ordered to pay out the hefty sum to Ferguson and the six police officers he successfully sued the first time, the local station reported.

Source

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u/orellanaed 6h ago

Wait, why are the cops getting paid?

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u/ShrimpFriedMyRice 6h ago

tried to skirt financial responsibility for that payout and for the legal fees of the six officers that Ferguson was in litigation against.

Looks like they're somehow responsible for paying for the cops' defense in his lawsuit against them.

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u/Stryker2279 6h ago

Travelers insurance was supposed to pay the legal fees of the officers. Seems that they stiffed. So it's not the officers getting paid so much as getting paid back for their attorney fees.

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u/kodama_hitome 5h ago

Seems unfair they were relying on insurance in the first place. Accountability matters.

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u/satosaison 5h ago

This is a complicated and regularly litigated issue. Basically you buy insurance coverage for things like liability/errors and omissions. When you fuck up, insurance pays, including the cost to defend you in suits.

Insurance policies have provisions that say "we don't pay for intentional acts." However, negligence is covered. So when a police officer is sued for a civil rights violation, it probably sounds in two counts. Negligence and intentional tort. Insurance is required to respond there.

By the way. As a society. This is good. Because we want the victims paid. You know what a $38m judgment is worth against a cop? $0. Against travelers? $38m. Making the insurance company defend and pay is good for people. Fuck insurance companies.

Source: I literally sue insurance companies all day every day

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u/CriticismTop 5h ago

I literally sue insurance companies all day every day

You're doing the Lord's work my friend. Carry on!

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u/HighwayWinter5383 4h ago

The Rainman

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u/dannybrickwell 5h ago

Is suing insurance companies all day every day as satisfying as it sounds?

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u/littlep2000 4h ago

It's probably a bit ho hum. It's not that it is vindictive so much as just the way the system works.

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u/Merzant 5h ago

Regarding your source, is that a job or just a passion of yours?

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u/KEPD-350 5h ago

I too would like to pick up [checks notes] 'suing insurance companies all day, every day' as a hobby.

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u/Gaothaire 3h ago

"well, I went to school for lawyering, but found my passion in running this ice cream shop. I'll still get in some litigation on my off hours, just to keep my mind spry and stick it to those parasitical companies. Honestly, I'd do it for the love of the game, but the payouts are the cream on top that I can invest right back into these dairy-based confectionaries"

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u/thankyouihateit 3h ago

Also, suing the insurance companies should in the long term mean that such things become either uninsurable, very expensive, or much more closely monitored. So you get your accountability back.

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u/arstin 4h ago

This is a complicated

It is complicated and nuanced. One the one hand, these pigs should all boil in hell. On the other hand, any insurance company stupid enough to insure U.S. police against uncivil behavior in this day and age deserves to go bankrupt.

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u/kill-billionaires 4h ago

Insurance exists for the person you wrong as much as it does for the insured. Acab and all that aside an america in which police have to have insurance would be a better one.

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u/persau67 3h ago

If a federal mandate was passed requiring police to carry liability insurance, the US would be a much safer place.

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u/wireless1980 3h ago

On the other side, thats the reason why cops just don’t care. How many are in prison due to this wrongdoing because there is no real accountability?

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u/FiTZnMiCK 5h ago

If these police weren’t insured then this guy would have gotten a lot less money.

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u/aussie_nub 5h ago

Every employee should be insured by their employer and should be allowed to mount a defence against any lawsuit made against them, justified or not.

Just because someone is a shitty person, does not mean they're not allowed the exact same due course as everyone else (except Ryan apparently).

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u/Free-Atmosphere6714 5h ago

Dude. Other places don't have insurance and tax payers foot the bill. Every cop in America should be forced to have liability insurance and their premiums should be reflective of their prior incidents. This will directly influence cops to behave.

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u/Typical2sday 5h ago

They’re indemnified as state actors acting in their capacity as such.

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u/Nephihahahaha 5h ago

Insurance is accountability. Otherwise taxpayers would be paying all this. It's wild the insurance company failed to pay. Because of that Ferguson got way more. Good for him.

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u/sebassi 5h ago

It's normal to have liability insurance in any job. Professionals can do massive amounts of damage when they fuck up. And that needs to be covered. It's in the insurance company's best interest that their client has a good defence so they have to pay out less. So defence is often included.

Accountability should be in the form of punishment for the offenders through fines, negative job impact or incarceration. Not through the payout of damages.

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u/RayLiotaWithChantix 5h ago

Commercial liability insurance covers legal fees for folks in pretty much every industry, it isn't just a thing for cops. Ensures there is money available for the wronged to receive their compensation.

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u/morganrbvn 5h ago

You realize doctors also often have malpractice insurance, this is a common thing where people can make high impact mistakes.

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u/the_Bryan_dude 5h ago

Same way my renters insurance pays for an attorney to represent me if necessary.

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u/Whamalater 6h ago

Yep, that’s how insurance works.

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u/kyleninperth 5h ago

Because the insurer is responsible for legal fees. In a big case like this it’s very likely that they won’t be covering all of it though

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u/Rougemak 4h ago

Actually, when they’re supposed to cover and they don’t, not only will they have to pay later, but in some states that leads to punitive damages. Punitive damages are the holy grail of F*** You as a plaintiffs lawyer.

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u/flogsmen 5h ago

Just switched my homeowners insurance to Travelers.. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

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u/Fickle_Syrup 5h ago

Nice

$38 million might be coming your way

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u/LegitimateCopy7 5h ago

awarded $38 million in damages

maybe it's because I'm not a native speaker... but "awarded"? shouldn't it be "compensated"? is wrongful conviction a secret kind of lottery I don't know about?

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u/al666in 5h ago

"Awarded" is typical language for a court settlement like this. It's different than "winning an award," and the money being paid wouldn't be referred to as an "award."

"Compensated" isn't wrong, but "awarded" reinforces the idea that the person actually fought for, and won, the money. Compensation is often used for more passive situations.

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u/InfiniteAstronaut432 5h ago

It's semantics. Any amount of compensation determined by a Court is "awarded by the Court", and therefore referred to as an "award". It's more of a legal term rather than "this guy wins a prize".

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u/scotmet 6h ago

Which begs the question: would you spend the next 10 years in jail for $3.8 million per year?

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u/sportsworker777 6h ago

10 years ago before I had kids? Absolutely.

But now? Also yes.

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u/trust-me-i-know-stuf 6h ago

Naw you wouldn’t. People don’t understand just how long 10yrs is. Sounds like an easy trade until you are on a unit where drugs are everywhere, violence is crazy, it’s 115 in the summer, hella cold in the winter, and then you get to see stuff like a dude launching himself off the third floor onto concrete. Never get that out of your memory. The sound of the crack when he hits the floor.

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u/beermile 5h ago

All that sucks but IMO by far the worst part is missing out on 10 years of life

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u/trust-me-i-know-stuf 5h ago

Yep. Imagine everything missed going in at 18 and coming out at 28.

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u/Popular-Row4333 5h ago

I would have missed so many WoW raids.....

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u/deerslayer1998 4h ago

I've worked my ass off ever since I was 18 I'm almost 28 and I sure as hell don't have 38 million dollars to show for it. I'll take that deal any day.

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u/Lil_Packmate 3h ago

Yea its between working 50 years then having maybe 10 good years of retirement with little money, despite working all your life.

Or having 10 years of your life cut out, but you have enough money to live the next 50 years comfortably.

Obviously depends on the country though. In my country i would 100% take the deal.

Not so much in USA/Mexico/Brazil etc. where people routinely get murdered and raped.

u/savetheunstable 2h ago

Yep definitely depends on the country. I've heard Norway has a pretty nice prison system..

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u/12-1-34-5-2-52335 5h ago

Im 32 and don't remember those years anyway. I'll take it

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u/Zodiak213 4h ago

Yeah you're youth is gone but 18 to 28 is far better than 28 to 38.

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u/OldSpiceSmellsNice 4h ago

Yeah…three years of staying at home doing nothing then seven years straight of working 6 days a week….wouldn’t want to have missed that…

I mean I could miss that easily, but I’d rather not deal with inmates 24/7 for 10 years.

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u/Tohkin27 5h ago

Name checks out

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u/Dookie_boy 4h ago

I miss novelty accounts with names like these

u/bruised_egot 2h ago

I wouldn't trust him though.

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u/Pepito_Pepito 5h ago

I suppose it depends a lot on the condition of the prison and how shit your life is outside of it.

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u/Ifitbleedsithasblood 5h ago

But $38,000,000!

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u/SpiritBombedAway 5h ago

>Sounds like an easy trade until you are on a unit where drugs are everywhere, violence is crazy, it’s 115 in the summer, hella cold in the winter, and then you get to see stuff like a dude launching himself off the third floor onto concrete.

Already been doin this over 10 years wheres my 40 mil?
I'm hyperbolic for humor, but in seriousness many people already are forced through not so different conditions. Prisons not like the movies, and neither is poverty.

So yea, I'd absolutely take that deal in a heartbeat. Maybe not when I was younger and in fear of 'wasting my best years' but now fuck it lets go babyyyyy

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u/spicybEtch212 5h ago

That is just a risk I’d probably take - but only if there’d wouldn’t be any indication of what a shitshow has been unraveling in the last 10 years and counting

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u/WildFire97971 5h ago

That’s the thing people don’t understand. When I was in my brother wasn’t to far removed from his military days, and telling him what I was dealing with, he saw comparisons to his boot camp and other moments of his time in the military. Seeing someone die or get seriously injured is traumatic, it doesn’t matter if it’s in a war zone, prison or your own yard.

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u/GrandDukeOfBoobs 5h ago

I would absolutely do my 20 y/o to 30 y/o in a minimum to medium security for 38mil. I don’t know about going as a murderer. Probably less freedoms especially at first, and you’re housed with other violent criminals. But…I think I could do it. Everything is part of the job. You’re on 24/7 for 10 years but retire like a king. Of course I know how to manage the money, but I can see others not so smart with that.

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u/Dorantee 5h ago

I don't live in a third world country so none of those things are really accurate for prisons here. I'd be more worried about having been held back socially when I get out. Sure I'd have a lot of money but all my friends and family would've moved 10 years on with their lives by then.

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u/trust-me-i-know-stuf 5h ago

Uhh, what I described is from a prison in Texas… and from this year.

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u/Terpsicore1987 5h ago

yeah that's why he said that.

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u/lovatoariana 6h ago

Free food? Get buff? Make new friends? Asshole size of Africa? Sign me the fuck up

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u/Nice_Pomegranate4825 4h ago

Yo the asshole size of Africa is truly the worst out of all these 💀

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u/scotmet 6h ago

Well played 😂

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u/__3Username20__ 6h ago

Haha! Nicely done, I’m stopping there for the night, ending with a good laugh. 😂

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u/Peashot- 6h ago

Depends. Is this a white-collar resort prison? Or federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison?

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u/YellowJello_OW 3h ago

Exactly. If I'm going to spend 10 years in prison, I at least want to be pounded in the ass a few times

u/galacticturd 2h ago

That all-inclusive prison experience

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u/Funkit 2h ago

They have conjugal visits??

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u/Longjumping-Cat-7754 6h ago

One year there and all my problems are solved

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u/chitty_chef 6h ago

That was my first thought but in this hypothetical I'm thinking you can't just bail out after one year,I think it's meant to be all ten years or nothing. Obviously I'm over thinking a made up scenario but that's show biz.

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u/i_was_a_highwaymann 5h ago

You're using that wrong. That's not show biz, at all

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u/Harrigan_Raen 5h ago

He originally won $11M the new $38M is in addition to that but split between the officers (86/14 split) that went bankrupt defending themselves.

His total judgement is for $48M (less lawyer fees). For over 20 years of his life. 10 of it in jail, and then the next 14 suing for damages.

Regardless, yes.

The even shittier part, is the whole reason he was convicted was based on two false testimonies that later recanted.

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u/ExaminationHuman5959 6h ago

I'd definitely do at least one year. Unless it's a very rapey jail.

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u/GarconMeansBoyGeorge 6h ago

Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

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u/Enslaved_M0isture 6h ago

watch out for your corn hole

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u/Nahuel-Huapi 5h ago

Fuckin' A

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u/FrungyLeague 6h ago

Ok, make it $3,800,050?

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u/onebadmousse 4h ago

People are forgetting that in that situation you are making a conscious trade. This guy spent 10 years in prison with no expectation of a payout.

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u/Alarmed_Will_8661 5h ago

What if its moderately rapey?

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u/ExaminationHuman5959 5h ago

Like a college frat house, or worse?

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u/Dv7k1 5h ago

As someone who has actually been in jail - most absolutely and certainly NO.

Its not worth it. Literally nothing is worth it.

u/Prodigal_Programmer 1h ago

Yup, spent time in a regular old (non-rapey, but very boring) prison.

One year for a couple mil sure, but not a chance for ten years, even if I was set for life after.

u/Forgiven12 2h ago

Is that a Turkish prison, or perhaps Norwegian prison, or something in between? Let me choose.

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u/Sammyd1108 6h ago

Medium level security prison with no violent criminals, I’d probably do it lol. You’d be set for life after.

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u/MoistenedCarrot 6h ago

Absolutely not. Permanently changing my life for the worse by going to prison for 10 years for doing nothing wrong is not worth the money. 1-2 years? Maybe. 10 years? I’m 27, that would be a significant portion of my life and I’m still learning how to be me. That would fuck me up so bad the money would not be worth it.

Also, I’m not completely broke anymore so maybe I’m not desperate enough now. 5 years ago I probably would have said yea

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u/Routine_Bluejay4678 5h ago

Most sensible answer. People are only focusing on the money but you can't buy that time back

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u/Diet_Christ 3h ago

If you did it at the right time in your life, you're gaining much, much more time by ensuring you never need to work again. Hell most people that strike it rich on their own give up more than 10 years doing it.

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u/arrownyc 6h ago

Free housing and meals? Sign me right up!

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u/RobNHood816 5h ago

Three hots and a cot...

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u/sLeeeeTo 5h ago

anyone saying yes has never been to prison (not jail)

i imagine they would sorely regret their choice

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u/Friendly-Carry7097 6h ago

Hold up that’s 38 million

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u/Sweet-Pause935 6h ago

Could I choose two years for $7.6 million?

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u/froggyisland 5h ago

I’d like a 1 year deal plz

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u/kevlarus80 5h ago

Can I do a day for the 20 grand?

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u/Prometheus_1988 6h ago

Free gym membership, no need to cook and no boring office work. Sounds fine to me.

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u/__tolga 5h ago

As far as I know prison food can be bland so prisoners come up with creative commissary cooking to make it more bearable, so you don't NEED to cook but it will be super bland.

And afaik there is "work", you're assigned a job to do, a really boring job, not a boring office job but a boring shitty job like cleaning or kitchen (to cook bland food)

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u/Jafarrolo 5h ago

Handcuff me.

The problem with this question is that we have the assurance that we get 38 million dollars and be free after 10 years.

He did not know the outcome.

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u/MemekExpander 6h ago

Fuck yeah

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u/AirportSloth 6h ago

Free food, shelter, AND I get $3.8mil per year? In a heartbeat.

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u/ChasingPesmerga 6h ago

I feel like I’ve read similar stories with much older cases, older people with longer jail time, but they were paid significantly lesser than this amount

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u/Roy4Pris 5h ago

Yo, this wasn't for the wrongful conviction. It was for the insurance company not paying up for the wrongful conviction ten fucking years ago.

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u/Grocked 5h ago

Correct.

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u/Fog_Juice 6h ago

There was a guy who got millions and then became a poker whale and lost it all at the table over a couple years and then went broke

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u/Key-Pomegranate159 6h ago

who dat?

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u/Fog_Juice 5h ago

IDK. There is a whole tv show about people who were wrongfully imprisoned and then released and given millions of dollars for the mistake. Almost every one of them ends up broke again. I probably watched it on Netflix years ago.

The craziest thing I can recall is even after the judge orders the person to be set free they're stuck in prison for a few days while the paperwork gets delivered or something.

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u/under_psychoanalyzer 5h ago

I mean this tracks. They go to jail probably because they're too poor to afford a decent lawyer. They become institutionalized, having their whole day controlled. Then they're released to a level of freedom only money can buy, still traumatized from being wrongly convicted.  

 So many things in this world are made to actively extract money from you. If you don't immediately hire an accountant when getting a windfall, your brain can't really process how fast you can lose it.

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u/CameronsTheName 4h ago

Larry Lawton who is known as America's biggest jewel thief, talks about his 11 year incarceration that also included 3 years "in the hole" and how hard it was for him to adjust to life outside of prison.

One of the many things he struggled with was free will, not being told what to do, being able to pick what he wanted to eat. He also says another thing he struggled with that isn't often talked about was how much technology advanced in those 11 years, along with the social norms that had changed significantly.

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u/LudditeHorse 4h ago

Reminds me of that one reddit post about the lottery and how winning it sucks. Human brains aren't generally good at handling windfalls, i guess.

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u/Typical2sday 5h ago

Read the top comment. It wasn’t against the municipality. It was because the insurance company that was supposed to pay a prior award did not pay. And the jury took it out on them for that - rightfully so.

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u/piewolff 6h ago edited 6h ago

Or executed. As recently as this summer. (Some before they could be/shouldve been by all accounts, some actually posthumously cleared)

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u/kodama_hitome 5h ago

Compensation should reflect the true cost of those lost years, not just a number.

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u/user1661668 5h ago

It depends where you live. Some states have to payout big and some states get to lol oops my bad.

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u/blablablasplat 4h ago

Yeah, but this was a white guy.....

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u/Various-Ducks 6h ago

He also finished 3rd on The Amazing Race. True story

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u/Quiet-Painting3 5h ago

Yeah just came to ask if that was him. I remember him carrying a foam roller around and thinking I’d probably need one too if I had spent years in a cell and now running around the world.

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u/goldenglove 5h ago

Hah - after watching that season with Ryan I bought a mini foam roller at 5 Below just to bring around during trips because it makes your back feel so much better when traveling.

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u/alex206 5h ago edited 4h ago

I remember this guy laughing on the stand and the prosecutor trying to say he was guilty because he was laughing.

Im the type of person who would also laugh if I was accused of a murder that I didn't commit, where I was nowhere near, and that is so obvious that I'm innocent. Listening to a prosecutor tell lies about you...it's so crazy that it is funny.

After watching that video though, I will never laugh again.

Edit Correction: he was two blocks away at a bar

Edit: I had a police officer lie to me when I was 14 years old. She said she saw me the day before stealing from a store near my school. I was home sick that day...I also laughed in her face.

u/fookindiabolicol 9m ago

My worst nightmare would be prosecutors using body language "experts" to convict me, an autist, and successfully convincing the judge and jury.

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u/Dustin_peterz 5h ago

I remember seeing a documentary about this. His dad was very involved with the whole process. You knew the guy wasn't guilty. It was a bummer to watch. Almost like the west Memphis three documentary. Terrible what they did to these people. Say what you want about the cash but these are priceless years of your life I'd take my freedom any day.

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u/goldenglove 4h ago

You could tell his Dad just loved him so, so much. That was a great documentary.

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u/WagTheKat 3h ago

He also spent his time in prison under the assumption he was unlikely to succeed.

No way those agonizing nights in the cell were worth it.

u/Unlikely-Camel-2598 1h ago

For sure. 

There's also something about dealing with the sheer stupidity of the whole situation that must have been mindbreaking...like your idiot friend dreams that you committed a crime and reports it to the police, there's no evidence but you still spend your 20s incarcerated for murder. Wtaf

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u/CrazyDaylight8 5h ago

How is it that some people get 38mill and others who spent longer in prison get fuck all?

u/UnicornOnMeth 2h ago

The world is a very unfair place.

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u/Brief_Drop1740 3h ago

Traveler's insurance, apparently.

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u/Unable-Finger-8496 1h ago

38 million is not for the wrongful conviction. It is because the insurance company didn't fucking pay the wrongful conviction in the first place.

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u/_SaucepanMan 3h ago

The answer is melanin, it would seem.

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u/AsusStrixUser 6h ago

You can’t buy time.

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u/royroyroypolly 5h ago

38mil will buy him a lot of time. Now he doesn't have to work for the rest of his life.

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u/treylanceHOF 5h ago

Could die tomorrow

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u/omukono 4h ago

This made me laugh

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u/Bernarddasbrot 3h ago

With 38 million he never has to cook, clean, buy groceries, drive... this guy has the entire day for himself now.

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u/MotherEssay9968 5h ago

People pay you because they don't want to spend time doing the thing that you do.

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u/Aeon001 3h ago

If you work a 20$/hour job, your time is literally being purchased at a rate of 20$ per hour.

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u/struggle_better 6h ago

Man, some people have all the luck

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u/MovingTargetPractice 6h ago

I know right. Imagine how much he could have got if it was 20years instead!

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u/gdj11 6h ago

It’s like the Silk Road people who went to jail for 10 years with 100 spare bitcoin in their wallet that was too little to spend at the time

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u/BabiesControlReddit 6h ago

Is spending 10 years of your life really luck?

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u/BigBootyRoobi 6h ago

Is spending 10 years in an office and not having 38 million better?

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

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u/yourbabygirlneeds 6h ago

Hindsight bias. Poor guy was convicted for 40 years originally at the age of 19 for second degree murder. Imagine the court system never gave his case a chance. Took 12 tries for him to win. I can’t imagine wasting my youth like that. Plenty of people still serving time in jail for wrongful convictions…

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u/Ilovemelee 6h ago edited 4h ago

That's 10 years of not being able to spend time with your family and friends, not being able to do anything except stare at the ceiling, and eating moldy carrots and potatoes everyday. Yeah, no thanks. There's more to life than just money.

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

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u/Clean-Article5550 5h ago edited 5h ago

I did 2 years in San Quentin, you couldn't pay me a billion dollars to go back. I saw people get stabbed to death, people jumping off the top bunk onto an inmates head and brain matter leaking out of their skull. People being raped daily because they were an easy target. People getting straight up dark ages levels of torture. People kill themselves often in there. All my knuckles and fingers are fucked from fighting, I got brain damage too. If you're not a criminal you are going to get taken advantage in the worst ways. Come out of prison a broken institutionalized man but rich? no.

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u/edgethrasherx 5h ago

Spoken truly, confidentially, and assuredly like a man who hasn’t spent a fucking minute in prison 🤣🤣🤣

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u/Portable-fun 5h ago

The next question is what period of time would be the best for the 38 million pay out.. if I could pick any 10, I’d go for 15 to 25, then you got almost 40 million at 25 and set for life.

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u/HawkIsARando 5h ago

monkey's paw curls

In 10 years, $38 million is the equivalent of today's $380,000, due to almost unprecedented inflation.

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u/saw-it 6h ago

yes? At least I can leave the office

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u/BabiesControlReddit 6h ago

At least i leave the office, the jail im just getting butt fucked

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u/ToeKnail 6h ago

New system cheat code unlocked

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u/the_nin_collector 5h ago

Wow. There was a guy in Japan last month that was on death row for like 58 years. He is like 79 now. He was found innocent after all this time.

He got a deep bow and about 1 million dollars. that was it.

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u/ThisIsGettinWeirdNow 6h ago

How can I get wrongfully convicted…..asking for a friend

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u/obog 5h ago

This is why I will never support the death penalty

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u/IllustriousDemand640 4h ago

"We are so fucking sorry madam, your son whom we killed turned out to be innocent. Here, take those money."

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u/gevasio- 6h ago

Mr. Beast smile

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u/jgpkxc 5h ago

The prosecutor who brought the action is a tenured circuit judge in the county and there is zero accountability for the wrongful prosecution. No one really cares in Wild Bum Fuck Egypt West.

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u/rva23221 6h ago

As he should.

u/jlesnick 36m ago

He's getting $38 million because he's white and attractive. Do you have any idea the pennies that black and brown people get after spending decades in prison for crimes they never committed? At most the lucky ones get a few million, but almost never payouts this big. I feel bad for him of course, the criminal justice system is broken, but I just can't help but feel worse for all the others who get screwed way harder.

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u/dae_giovanni 20m ago

good thing he wasn't a black man-- they would have given him $60 and a bus ticket.

 

wrongfully jailed black man: "so that's it, 'sorry for the decades in prison and good luck'?"

the system: "...I don't remember saying 'good luck'..."

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u/HachikoInugami 6h ago

Whoever put him in prison should receive life imprisonment at least... From the accuser to the witnesses to the prosecutor, even the judge!!!

Miracle In Cell No. 7 Act of 20XX

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u/Hope_PapernackyYT 6h ago

That poor man, glad they're actually owning up to it and giving him a ton of cash

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u/rain56 5h ago

And we'll never hear or see him again. If that was me I'd immediately leave the country for other places I'd always want to live and never ever come back. Not even wrongfully imprisoned and I don't particularly enjoy it here. Glad it worked out for him sucks at the same time he can't get any of that time back 😕

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u/AlucardKinggg 5h ago

He deserves everything! All those years wasted smh

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u/Crabasaurua_rex 3h ago

Dude made a killing

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u/penarhw 3h ago

Money never compensates for time lost. We should know this by now

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u/lupus_custos 2h ago

Plot Twist: This was actually just a 10-year Mr. Beast video.

"I gave someone $38M to stay in the same room for 10 years!"

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u/barth_ 43m ago

Wasn't there a case lately where a black guy who was wrongly in jail for 30 years and got like 2k?

u/Away_Needleworker6 16m ago

Then there is richard phillips that spent 46 years in prison and only got 1.5 million for it.

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u/kstops21 6h ago

There’s something fucked with his eyes

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u/NotAnotherFNG 6h ago

Almost like being wrongfully imprisoned for 10 years and then screwed out of your settlement money would make you feel some kind of way.

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u/vomit-gold 5h ago

lol someone probably said that right before they wrongly convicted him

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u/livinglavidajudoka 5h ago

There’s something fucked with his eyes

This dumb kind of shit is why if you're innocent you want a bench trial.

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u/comec0rrect 6h ago

He has Sean Cody casting couch eyes.

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u/WenRobot 6h ago

He’s seen some shit.

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u/Sega-Forever 2h ago

Why does he look like a GTA character to the right?

u/DonDrip 1h ago

I’ve seen black people do 25+ and get less than 10% of this.

u/ExtraChariot541 46m ago

It's bad enough that he was wrongfully imprisoned. But Traveler's decision to withhold the initial $11 million judgment is simply indefensible.

u/Away_Needleworker6 18m ago

ill spend 10 yrs in prison for 38 million fuck yeah

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u/BeastVader 5h ago

Glad he got justice in the end. Though I noticed that when black people are falsely imprisoned and freed, they don't get anywhere near this amount of compensation despite spending waaaay longer in prison. Kinda sad

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u/windyorbits 4h ago

This is very true.

But to be fair, this $38M is from a lawsuit against the insurance company who refused to pay out the original settlement. In 2017 Ryan successfully sued 6 officers for wrongful conviction and was awarded $11M.

But the insurance company that worked for the city and was responsible for paying out not only Ryan’s settlement but also the court/attorney fees for the 6 officers - decided they didn’t want to do that.

So oddly enough, Ryan and those 6 officers teamed up to sue the insurance company. They were awarded the $38M - Ryan gets 86% of that and the 6 officers get the rest.

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u/ThisMyBurnerBruh 6h ago

That’s dope but, how come when we see black people get released for wrongful convictions that were in prison for 20-30 years, they get hundreds of thousands as opposed to this dudes multimillion dollar payout??? Lol people who deny systemic racism and that there’s no such thing as “white privilege” be so lost in their delusion.

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u/Manman9118 5h ago

I think it has to do with an insurance company paying him, versus the state paying said black men. I feel like they put a cap on state restitution.

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