A federal jury has awarded Jeffrey Deskovic, who spent 16-and-a-half years wrongfully imprisoned for the rape and murder of a high school classmate before DNA testing proved him innocent, $40 million plus $1.65 million in stipulated lost wages for a total of $41,650,000—the largest wrongful conviction jury verdict in U.S. history. The jury found former Putnam County Senior Investigator Daniel Stephens liable for intentional misconduct, including conspiring to coerce a confession and fabricating evidence. The second-highest wrongful conviction jury verdict was awarded to NSB clients John Restivo and Dennis Halstead in April 2014.
In California’s Largest-Ever Wrongful Conviction Settlement, the City of Inglewood Pays a Record-Breaking $25 Million to Exoneree Maurice Hastings
September 23, 2025
Inglewood Police Department knowingly put an innocent man behind bars for more than 38 years while the real killer went free [Inglewood, CA] — With