2014/04/20
The New York Times April 18, 2014: 2 Men Get $18 Million Each in Wrongful Conviction Case.
Thirty years ago, a 16-year-old girl, Theresa Fusco, was found raped and strangled near the roller skating rink on Long Island where she worked. Not long afterward, prosecutors charged three men, who were convicted and went on to spend 18 years in prison.
On Thursday afternoon, a federal jury awarded two of those men, John Restivo and Dennis Halstead, $18 million each for a wrongful conviction by Nassau County and for the years they lost. The county dismissed charges against the three men in 2003 after DNA evidence indicated that the rape had been committed by someone else, who has never been identified. One of the three men, John Kogut, was eventually retried and acquitted, but he lost his wrongful conviction lawsuit and is appealing. more