By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-994073.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – A Florida Senate Committee has passed a claims bill to compensate a man who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Lynn Hatter reports the measure is a top priority of Senate President Mike Haridopolos.
William Dillon was convicted of a 1981 murder of a construction worker until DNA evidence cleared his name. Under the claims bill passed in the Senate Rules committee Dillon would be paid 50-thousand dollars for each of the years he spent in prison. While the committee voted unanimously for the bill, it still didn't ease concerns from Senator Steven Wise, Republican of Jacksonville.
"Someplace we need to be able to exonerate him and get it off the roles so that it does not end up that he can honestly say when he applies for a job, that he can honestly say that he has not been convicted of a crime?"
Even though Dillon has been cleared of the crime, he would have to either go before a judge or the Florida Clemency board to have his record wiped clean.