No payment to ex-prisoner after tossed conviction
Claims Board requires evidence of innocence
After six years in prison, Michael Winston won his freedom last year when prosecutors dismissed the charges against him rather than prosecute a new trial a judge had ordered.
But that doesn’t mean Winston is innocent by its standard, the state Claims Board decided Tuesday.
Winston sought the $25,000 maximum payout for his time in prison since a 2013 conviction for attempted homicide, kidnapping, robbery and recklessly endangering safety, plus $250,000 for pain and suffering.
To qualify for the state payments, Winston had to show by clear and convincing evidence that he was, in fact, innocent of the offenses for which he was convicted, not just cleared.
The Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office noted the reason it decided to drop the charges instead of retrying Winston was that police couldn’t locate the victim — the main witness in the case who said Winston shot him.
Winston maintained throughout that he was not involved in the crime.
Winston had won the new trial after persuading a judge that his trial attorney had failed to call his girlfriend as an alibi witness.