The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $15-million payment for a man who spent nearly three decades behind bars for a slaying he says he did not commit.
The settlement — one of the largest in L.A. County in recent years — brings an end to a legal saga that began in 1985 when Frank O’Connell was convicted of fatally shooting a man at a South Pasadena apartment complex.
A judge freed him in 2012 after finding that Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives failed to disclose exculpatory evidence during his original trial.
“This brings a sense of closure. It’s been a long road,” O’Connell said. “It’ll be a new beginning for me, and I can really start my life over. I can’t make up for the time that was stolen from me, but I can take positive action with what’s left.”
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