New York City will pay $6.25 million to Jonathan Fleming age 53, for being wrongfully imprisoned for 24 years for a murder he didn't commit. The settlement to pay the wrongfully imprisoned man comes more than 14 months after being released by the judge from prison overturning the 1990 murder conviction and a sentence of life in prison.
Jonathan Fleming told the USA TODAY on Tuesday: "It's a bittersweet moment," Fleming added: "On the same day I'm signing this settlement, I'm taking my mother off of life support."
After the Brooklyn district attorney's office years of appeals and an internal review, Fleming was free from blame and guilt last year by a judge who cited telephone records, photos and witness accounts - that placed Jonathan Fleming in Florida at the time of the murder.
Scott Stringer, New York City Comptroller, stated that the city of New York will pay $6.25 million to settle a $162 million lawsuit filed last year. Stringer said: "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."
Fleming's lawyers were pleased that the settlement had come relatively quickly. The lawyers stated that the prompt settlement will enable Jonathan and his family can start a new life without the painful and costly process of taking legal action.
Fleming was grateful for the 14 months he got with his mother and he was also pleased with the settlement.
Fleming said to USA Today just before the settlement: "Being locked up in a cage for something that you didn't do - no one should ever have to experience that," "And I feel that I should have been compensated with something, with all these years that was taken away from me."
Watch The Video Here of Jonathan Fleming:
