Ronnie Long was convicted by an all-white jury in North Carolina on Oct. 1, 1976, after he was accused of raping a white woman in Concord.

A Black North Carolina man who spent 44 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping a prominent white woman has been awarded a historic $25 million settlement more than three years after he was exonerated.

Ronnie Long, 68, settled his civil lawsuit with the city of Concord, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, for $22 million, the city said in a news release Tuesday. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation had previously settled for $3 million, according to Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic.

The clinic, which represented Long, said the settlement is the second largest wrongful conviction settlement recorded.

“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,” clinical professor Jamie Lau, Long’s criminal attorney, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

  • LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I hope he doesn’t end up like those lottery winners who go broke within a year because everyone steals from them and then someone murders ☹️

    • rab@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      I don’t think that’s why lotto winners go broke, it’s because the average person is simply bad with money

      I also think that being rich requires a certain narcissistic mindset and that the average person is generous and would naturally share if gifted excess wealth