Jury Awards $25 Million Payout To Wrongfully Convicted Chicago Man

A Chicago man was awarded more than $25 million after spending 22 years in prison for a 1994 murder that he maintains he did not commit. 

Eddie Bolden filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago and two surviving police detectives. The city was ordered to pay $25 million in compensatory damages, with the detectives responsible for $100,000 in punitive damages. It is reportedly the largest payout in a wrongful conviction case for the city.

Bolden was released from prison in 2016 after an appellate court found his trial lawyer was ineffective by not calling witnesses who saw him inside a fish restaurant. A judge ordered a new trial, but the state’s attorney’s office decided not to pursue the case. 

He was convicted for the murders of 23-year-old Irving Clayton and 24-year-old Derrick Frazier in an alleged drug deal gone bad. A brother of one of the victims identified Bolden in a lineup as the shooter, but witnesses refuted their story. According to his lead attorney, Ronald S. Safer, witnesses instead placed him in a fish restaurant at the time of the killings. 

“This verdict is a total and complete vindication of Eddie Bolden,” Safer said to CBS News in a statement. 

The Chicago Department of Law told the outlet it “is reviewing the verdict and is assessing its legal options.”