After spending 31 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction, Maryland officials have approved over $3 million in compensation for Gary Washington, a Baltimore man. During a Board of Public Works meeting where the compensation was approved, Gov. Wes Moore apologized to Washington on behalf of the entire state for the failure of the justice system.
Washington, who was a 25-year-old new father at the time of his conviction in 1987 for first-degree murder and a gun crime in the fatal shooting of Faheem Ali, had no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Multiple witnesses confirmed he was not the shooter, and several people provided alibis for his whereabouts at the time of the crime.
According to Moore, the prosecution’s key witness, who was only 12 years old at the time, later recanted his identification of Washington as the murderer, stating he was manipulated by the police into sending Washington to prison.
Washington, now 63, was released from prison in October 2018 after his convictions were vacated, and the charges were dismissed in January 2019. An administrative law judge determined that under state law, Washington is entitled to $94,991 for each of the 31 years he was wrongly incarcerated, totaling nearly $3 million. Additionally, he will receive over $89,000 to settle housing benefit claims.
By Brian Witte
