Man Cleared Of Rape After 35 Years Gets $1.7 Million

DETROIT (WWJ) - A man exonerated of rape after over 35 years in prison has been awarded $1.7 million in the first batch of cases covered by a new Michigan law that offers compensation to people who have been wrongly convicted.

Edward Carter sat quietly in the rear of a Detroit courtroom Wednesday and later declined to comment to WWJ's Vickie Thomas and other reporters.

"It's really heinous," said attorney Sima Patel, who represents Carter. "It was for a rape that occurred at the Wayne State University campus in a bathroom stall."

Carter was released from prison in 2010 after fingerprints still on file pointed to another suspect.

"When the Innocence Project got involved, the Detroit Police Department stepped up and they're like 'We don't have any DNA evidence in our file, but we have this railing that still has the fingerprint evidence'," Patel explained. "So they ran the fingerprint evidence through the FBI IAFIS system (Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System) which wasn't around in 1974, and this time the prints matched to someone who had a history of similar assaults."

Patel added that Carter, who was only 19 years old when he was convicted, "chooses to live life without bitterness."

State law allows $50,000 a year for every year in prison. Individuals can also receive restitution for attorney fees and other expenses under the law. Someone must have a conviction overturned based on "new evidence."

Another man, Marwin McHenry, who spend four years in prison, was awarded $175,000.

"I'm happy that it's all over now and I'm able to move forward with my life," McHenry told Thomas.

Was the money enough to heal the wounds?

"No; it's never enough," he said. "No dollar amount is enough."

Two other cases were dismissed by Court of Claims Judge Michael Talbot.

© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.