Glass and Rayford were 17 and 18 years old respectively when they were arrested.
Photo: PHOTOKITA / Shutterstock
Two individuals who were unjustly released after spending 17 years in prison, they will receive compensation of $140 for each day they were in prison.
In 2020, Dupree Glass, 36, and Juan Rayford, 37, were acquitted after a new trial, after the true perpetrator, Chad Brandon McZeal, confessed his guilt.
McZeal is currently serving a life sentence for murder in an unrelated case.
Thanks to a new law in California, it was revealed that Glass and Rayford are entitled to receive financial compensation. They will be awarded around $900,000 in total.which is $140 for every day they were wrongfully imprisoned.
Glass and Rayford were 17 and 18 respectively when they were arrested after a 2004 shooting that left two teenagers injured.
Although they claimed they did not participate in the shooting, Glass and Rayford were sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences for 11 counts of attempted murder. They had no criminal record prior to their arrest and conviction.
Their defense attorney, Annee Della Donna, said the trial against them in 2004 should never have taken place in the first place, as there was no evidence linking them to the shooting.
Their convictions were based on the testimony of only two witnesses, who later recanted their stories.
Della Donna said a five-year investigation by defense investigators found numerous witnesses who said, “Oh no, they weren’t the shooters, they never had a gun.”
At the moment, Glass and Rayford work as drivers for Walmart and are parents of girls. Rayford maintains a relationship with his high school girlfriend, who waited for him while he was in prison, as reported by the UNILAD portal.
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