Legal Commentary

Tim Masters Gets $4.1 Million for Wrongful Conviction

By Jeralyn

Larimer County, Colorado has agreed to pay Tim Masters $4.1 million for the ten years he spent in prison, wrongfully accused and convicted of murder.

Masters was 15 when Fort Collins, Colorado, police began investigating him in the murder of 37-year-old Peggy Hettrick, who was found murdered and sexually mutilated in a field near Masters' family home. He was convicted largely on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of an expert witness who said he fit the profile of a sexual predator.

Two prosecutors, Terrence Gilmore and Jolene Blair, were found to have withheld exculpatory evidence. Both are now judges, and opposed the settlement, saying they didn't have a chance to defend themselves. [More...]

As for who's paying:

$3 million dollars will come from the county's insurance company. The remaining $1.1 million will come out if the county's Risk Management Fund.

In a statement released through his attorney, Masters said:

I would gladly have paid $10 million, or whatever it took, if I could get those years of my life back. Unfortunately, that can never happen,"

His lawsuit against the City of Fort Collins is still pending. DNA cleared Masters in 2008 and a judge ordered his release. Masters is the first person in Colorado freed through DNA evidence.

The testing showed skin-cell DNA in the victim's underwear matched the genetic profile of an "alternate suspect."

Masters is attempting to rebuild his broken life.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 16, 2010 (boomark / email).