New York City has agreed to pay $6.25 million to
Jonathan Fleming, a man who spent nearly 25 years in prison before being exonerated in a
New York City killing that happened while he was vacationing at Disney World, the city comptroller said on Tuesday.
Comptroller Scott Stringer said that settling Fleming’s claim is “in the best interest of all parties”. “We cannot give back the time that he served, but the city of New York can offer Jonathan Fleming this compensation for the injustice that was committed against him,” Stringer said.
Fleming was released last year after the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said it had come to agree that his alibi – which he offered from the start – was valid. His lawyers praised the city for moving expeditiously to settle with Fleming, who filed notice last year that he planned to sue for $162 million. “The swift settlement will enable Jonathan and his family to build a new life without the painful and costly prospect of further litigation,” attorneys Paul Callan and Martin Edelman said.
