SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - A federal jury in Massachusetts has awarded $27 million to a man who spent 27 years in prison for a killing he maintained he didn’t commit.
Masslive.com reports that jurors made their decision in favor of 55-year-old Mark Schand in federal court in Springfield on Friday.
Schand sued four now-retired Springfield police officers he says framed him for the 1986 killing of a woman outside a city club. Authorities say the victim was an innocent bystander who caught a stray bullet in the back after a drug deal went awry.
Police defended the integrity of their investigation.
Schand was freed from prison and prosecutors dropped the case in 2012. He now runs a smoothie shop in New Britain, Connecticut.
A city attorney says the city will appeal on behalf of the defendants.
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Information from: The Springfield (Mass.) Republican, http://www.masslive.com/news/
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