Maryland officials have given their approval to provide over $3 million in compensation to a Baltimore man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 31 years behind bars.
During a Board of Public Works meeting where the compensation was approved, Gov. Wes Moore apologized to Gary Washington.
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Moore expressed his sincere apology on behalf of the entire state for the failure of the justice system. He acknowledged that no amount of compensation could fully make up for the injustice, but he hoped that the state could find a way to provide the deserving compensation to the family.
In 1987, Washington, a 25-year-old new father, was convicted of first-degree murder and a gun crime for the fatal shooting of Faheem Ali the year prior.
According to Moore, there was no physical evidence connecting him to the murder, and several witnesses confirmed that he was not the shooter. Additionally, multiple individuals provided alibis for him, placing him elsewhere at the time of the crime.
“The Democratic governor highlighted a crucial development in the trial, where the prosecution’s primary witness, who was only 12 years old at the time, retracted his identification of Mr. Washington as the perpetrator. The witness revealed that he had been manipulated by the police, leading to the wrongful imprisonment of Mr. Washington.”
Washington, who is now 63 years old, was released from prison in October 2018. This came after his convictions were overturned in the Baltimore City Circuit Court. The charges against him were dismissed by the Baltimore state’s attorney’s office in January 2019.
He will receive more than $3 million for wrongful confinement and an additional $89,000 to settle his housing benefit claims.
