Actually, there’s nothing a crooked lawyer could have done due to sovereign immunity. They aren’t legally bound to do what is morally right — or even close to right. They chose to make up for a wrong done.

From http://floridahealthcarelaw.com/the-complexity-of-florida-medical-malpractice-law/sovereign-immunity/ :

“Sovereign immunity is an old English principle that dates back to the days when kings and queens ruled England. The principle holds that the monarchy is immune from criminal or civil prosecution. Stated simply it means you can’t sue the king. In America it means that the government is immune from suit, except to the extent it waives this immunity. In Florida the state has waived sovereign immunity to the extent that an injured individual may recover up to $100,000 for an individual, and potentially another $100,000 if there are dependants. Any amount above this must be sought through a Claims Bill – a special law that can be pursued for an individual that makes a recovery in excess of the above amounts. It is literally a law, complete with lobbyists, sponsors, committee votes, House and Senate passage, and eventually the Governor’s signature (or lack of votes and signature – it is at the government’s discretion).”

David for trying to avoid such errors in the future

You’re right, except for one or two tiny little details. The “average” soldier serves for less than 6 years. A soldier with 27 years of service receives somewhere between about $60,000 and $200,000 per year, and that’s just base pay. That doesn’t include hazardous duty pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for sustenance, clothing allowances, etc., which can potentially add up to thousands upon thousands more. Add free medical, dental, and vision and 30 days of paid leave per year, and I’d say that, although your statement is true, it isn’t quite a fair comparison, financially speaking. I figured it up and, based on the federal minimum wage for each year during the actual years he was locked up and the numbers provided by David, he should actually get somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.3-2.4 million, just based on minimum wage income… I think the people are actually getting off light on this one! Granted, I am a disabled veteran who served 6 years and in 2 combat zones, so I have no desire to slight our nation’s defenders, but I joined voluntarily and knew the risks and what my income would be when I joined. I wasn’t wrongly convicted, stripped of almost all of my civil rights, and forced to serve 27 years without (much) pay…

Assume his time is completely taken up 24 hours per day. That is 168 hours per week. Under federal law, any time over 40 hours per week has to be paid at the rate of time and a half. (Remember, he couldn’t go home at the end of the day.) So that would require he be paid for 232 hours per week. 365.25 days per year is 52.18 weeks per year or 12,105.43 hours to be paid per year.

Divide $50,000/year by 12,105.43 hours/year yields an unadjusted pay rate of $4.13 per hour with no interest.

Now you could say he received food, clothing, shelter and medical care during that period of time, but none of it was of his choosing, so that doesn’t count against what was owed for his time.

It certainly looks like his reimbursement wasn’t excessive since it comes below minimum wage.

David considering the value of a life
in minimum terms

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091227/NEWS01/912270323/A-lifetime-lost-William-Dillon-s-27-year-fight-freedom

Just type his name into your search engine and start reading. Personally, I think the people who caused him to be convicted, including prosecutors, investigators, witnesses and the dog handler, should be forced to pay this man for the rest of his life. They stole his life. They destroyed him because they didn’t care about the truth. Yes, they should have to pay.