How much should people get after a wrongful conviction? In Mass., there's a limit

Getting freed from prison for a crime one did not commit is no easy task. And in Massachusetts, whether a person can get compensation for time wrongly spent behind bars is - quite literally - a million-dollar question.

In recent months, wrongful conviction cases in the state have resulted in multimillion-dollar payouts for exonerated people. Lowell recently awarded $13 million to Victor Rosario, who spent 32 years in prison for an arson fire he did not commit.

Milford and its police department were recently sued in federal court by Gary Cifizzari, who served 35 years for a murder for which he was wrongfully convicted. The suit alleges violations of Cifizzari's civil rights and due process, among others.

Gary Cifizzari case:Milford gets more time to respond to Taunton man's wrongful conviction lawsuit

That litigation is ongoing.

Getting compensation for a wrongful conviction begins with having a conviction overturned.

Having conviction overturned no easy task

"There are a number of ways someone can have their conviction overturned," said Radha Natarajan, director of the New England Innocence Project. Natarajan, a Northborough native, has been a lawyer since 2003 and has been with the NEIP since 2015, becoming its director in 2018. Her focus has been with flawed forensic science, and she was Cifizzari's lawyer in his successful bid to get his conviction overturned.

"They don't know where to turn," Natarajan said of incarcerated people. She explained they will often file pro se motions (those which are done without a lawyer); in Cifizzari's case, he wrote letters to the court without an attorney. Natarajan wrote to Cifizzari after she attended a seminar on flawed forensic science and a presentation on flawed bite-mark evidence.

Cifizzari was convicted based on bite-mark evidence, but was exonerated in 2019 after DNA testing cleared him of the murder of his aunt, Concetta Schiappa.

Free at last:Gary Cifizzari gets out of prison; seeks new trial in '79 Milford slaying

Natarajan explained that the NEIP's program does multiple rounds of screening and a lot of review before deciding "whether or not to bring it to court."

She also talked about the difficulty and that courts are resistant.

No state resources for exonerees

Once a conviction is overturned, you could say that nothing happens other than new freedom.

"When somebody is exonerated, they get absolutely nothing from the state, they get no resources, they get no reentry programs to get back into the community, they don't get an apology typically — they're basically just let go," said attorney Mark Loevy-Reyes.

Loevy-Reyes, who has been practicing at Loevy & Loevy since 2004, represented Rosario in the Lowell case. The firm, which has offices in Boston, Chicago and Boulder, Colorado, handles civil rights cases.

Proves his innocense:Man who spent 36 years in prison for Braintree murder awarded $33 million

What legal options for exonerees in Mass.?

Loevy-Reyes explained that in Massachusetts, exonerees can take two paths in a wrongful conviction suit.

The first is state law. Massachusetts State Law Chapter 258D allows for compensation regardless of fault, if people can prove by clear and convincing evidence that they are innocent. However, compensation is capped at $1 million.

The second path is through pursuing civil rights violations, which are typically brought in federal court. Loevy-Reyes used the example of Fred Weichel, who was awarded $33 million by a jury in October after wrongly spending 36 years in prison for a Braintree slaying.

"(Civil rights claims) requires us to show that officers engaged in some sort of conduct that violated the rights of the individual," Loevy-Reyes said, "Using Fred Weichel's case... we alleged that there was evidence that was fabricated against him, and evidence that was hidden from him during the course of criminal investigations."

The judgment in Weichel's case was determined by whatever a jury thinks the 36 lost years would entail, according to Loevy-Reyes.

"Imagine what a typical 36-year-old adult life would be, and think about what might be lost to those 36 behind bars, and a jury can consider all of those things in coming up with a calculation of damages."

Loevy-Reyes said there's no limit on the judgment exonerees can receive; however, under state law there is an issue with what exonerees can collect. "Massachusetts law generally limits governments from paying more than $1 million per defendant, unless we can prove that the misconduct happened as a result of their policies or practices," Loevy-Reyes said.

Legislators seek to remove settlement cap

Recent moves in the State House have been aimed at lifting the $1 million cap.

State Rep. Jeff Roy, D-Franklin, introduced a bill that would remove the $1 million cap on settlements, as well as waive tuition for exonerees at state or community colleges.

"Taking someone's freedom away is probably the most egregious thing you can do," he said. "Once they're exonerated, you have a heavy debt that you owe to these people by taking away their liberty."

Roy was initially inspired after meeting with the Boston College Innocence Program. He said he wants a law that will return what was taken from exonerees.

"We ask the jury to give an amount that will fairly and justly compensate that person for what has been taken from them and whatever that jury says is the award that the person should get," Roy said.

Despite the lack of state resources for exonerees, the New England Innocence Project offers the Exoneree Network, headed and co-founded by Sean Ellis, who was wrongfully convicted and spent 22 years in prison for the murder of a police officer. Ellis is also the subject of the Netflix documentary series "Trial 4." The network provides practical and spiritual support for those coming home.

Ellis noted that while nonincarcerated people are able to go to college, get a job and obtain professional and life skills, those who are incarcerated for crimes they did not commit are not.

"How do you place value on somebody's life when they're sitting in prison for something they haven't done," Ellis said. "How do you put a cap on somebody that has lost a mother, a father or a child by sitting in prison for a crime that they haven't done? How do you put a cap on the human value of not being able to go and pay final respects?"