State Law Blocks Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Spent Quarter-Century Behind Bars from Getting Full Damages Awarded by Jury

A man who spent 26 years in prison for a murder he did not commit will take home only a fraction of the $13 million awarded to him by a jury last week, thanks to a Massachusetts state law.

At just 26 years old, Michael Sullivan was wrongfully convicted of the 1987 murder of Wilfred McGrath, who was found with his feet bound with electrical wire and his body wrapped in a quilt outside a Stop & Shop in Somerville, according to reporting by The Spokesman-Review.

Sullivan maintained his innocence throughout his prison sentence. He was finally awarded a new trial in 2013 that proved a state crime lab chemist had provided false evidence. Sullivan was released the same year and all charges against him were then dropped in 2019.

Now, his civil trial has come to a close, too, and the jury again found him innocent. They also ruled Sullivan should be awarded $4 million for his loss of freedom and $9 million for his pain, suffering and emotional distress, per The Spokesman-Review.

However, according to Massachusetts state law, damages paid by the state in wrongful conviction suits are capped at $1 million.

Sullivan's lawyer said his client is thrilled nonetheless because he was finally exonerated of the crime.

"The million dollars can make a big difference in his life. He's thrilled with it. Would he have liked it to be 13? Sure. But he has no hard feelings at all about that," Sullivan's lawyer told the Boston Globe. "His main concern was getting that declaration, because he still hears people whispering, 'Ah, he got off on a technicality.'"