Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for 23 Years Receives No Compensation from the Govt

Lamonte McIntyre was falsely convicted of a double murder over 23 years ago. In October, he was finally exonerated and he left a prison in Kansas with a completely clean record, and no money or history of employment that would enable him to work a decent job.

Apparently Kansas is one of exactly 18 states that does not offer a thing to people who are found to be wrongfully convicted. “I think it’s unjust, but me being angry about it is not going to change it,” the man said.

If it wasn’t for the group known as the Midwest Innocence Project, he probably would have never been released. Tricia Bushnell of the organization calls this case the “perfect storm.”

The man was just essentially a young black male caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, as in 1994 he went to trial at the age of 17, bound to lose. No motive, and no physical evidence whatsoever was presented at his trial. In fact, the intimidation of witnesses was the actual premise upon which this case was built by lead police detective Roger Golubski, according to McIntryre’s current lawyers.

The fallout of this case could impact several other possible exonerations, because now who could trust police detective Roger Golubski? About a dozen people are rotting behind prison bars because of Golubski, and who knows how many of them are innocent.

The detective has retired, and now the state’s attorney Mark Dupree wants the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to review the conduct of the former cop. “If my office receives that information and there’s probable cause to charge Mr. Golubski, it will happen,” Dupree said.

Dupree agrees of course that McIntyre had a huge portion of his life taken from the state with nothing in return. “He did. And the only thing we can do is push forward,” he said.

Lamonte is currently studying to become a barber. “I want to spend the rest of my life being happy. I don’t want to be bitter. That’s taking away from me. I don’t have any more time to give,” he continued.

(Image credit: Twitter)