Man Released from Prison After Victim Recants Story Eligible for $900K Payment from Kansas

A man who spent over 13 years in prison for wrongful sex crime convictions could receive almost $900,000 of compensation from the state of Kansas.

Merardo J. Garza Jr. was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and rape in January 2008, the Kansas Attorney General's office said in a statement. Garza, now 52, was sentenced to life in prison with a 25-year minimum.

However, Garza's sentence was vacated in 2020 after the alleged victim, who was 8 years old at the time if the crime, recanted her story, the Wichita Eagle reported.

The court ordered a Certificate of Innocence and total compensation of $887,455.22, the attorney general's statement said. Also, records of his conviction and arrest will be expunged.

According to the court order, Garza was eligible for $65,000 for every year wrongfully imprisoned. Another nearly $10,000 will cover his attorney fees over the years. The order also said Garza would be eligible for a tuition waiver for up to 130 credit hours at a postsecondary education institution, and he can participate in a state health care benefits program from 2022 to 2023.

However, the payout is still subject to review by the State Finance Council, which has not yet happened, the attorney general's statement said.

The court order said Garza spent a total of 4,928 days, or 13 and a half years, behind bars.

The court order reads, "Garza did not commit the crime for which he was convicted, nor was he an accessory or accomplice to that crime, nor did he suborn perjury, fabricate evidence or cause or bring about his conviction through his own conduct."

In an email to the Eagle, Richard Ney, Garza's attorney, said Garza plans to use the tuition waiver for "more schooling and occupational training."

"Of course, no amount of money can compensate him for the more than 13 years he spent in prison for a crime he did not commit," he wrote.

According to the attorney general's statement, there have been 14 lawsuits in Kansas for wrongful convictions since December 2018. Out of those, six have reached judgment and have received payment or are in the process of receiving it. Two were rejected. Five others are still in the litigation process.

The National Registry of Exonerations shows of the Kansas exonerations since 1989, a total of over 106 years were spent wrongfully imprisoned, with the average number of years lost per exonerated former inmate being 6.7 years. Nationwide, the registry recorded nearly 3,000 exonerations since 1989.

In his email to the Eagle, Ney said these recent cases "show that, tragically, wrongful convictions are not as rare as we would hope."