Friday marks the halfway point of 2016, and with it comes a new host of laws that go into effect. Although a number of new laws go into effect, only one law truly impacts the field of criminal defense. Today, we take a look at the new wrongful conviction law in Minnesota.
New Laws in Minnesota
The only law that truly impacts criminal law is the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act, which was actually passed back in 2014 but goes into effect Friday. The passage of the law creates a compensation process for individuals who were exonerated for a felony for which they were wrongfully incarcerated. The new law states:
“The claimant is entitled to reimbursement for all restitution, assessments, fees, court costs, and other sums paid by the claimant as required by the judgment and sentence. In addition, the claimant is entitled to monetary damages of not less than $50,000 for each year of imprisonment, and not less than $25,000 for each year served on supervised release or as a registered predatory offender, to be prorated for partial years served.”
Three wrongfully convicted men will receive compensation under the new law.
- Michael Hansen will receive $916,828. Hansen served nearly seven years in a state prison after being found guilty of killing his three-month-old daughter, but was exonerated after a court ruled that the medical examiner made an error regarding the cause of death.
- Roger Olsen will receive $475,000. Olsen served nearly 30 months after being found guilty of 12 counts of 1st and 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct, but was exonerated after new evidence suggested the accusations were “inherently unreliable.”
- Koua Fong Lee will receive $395,148. Lee was released after it was determined that a vehicle defect, not driver negligence, was the reason he rear-ended another car, killing three people.
