Georgia House votes to repay wrongly imprisoned man

The Associated Press, March 19, 2007

The Georgia House voted Monday to give a $1.2 million payback to a man wrongly imprisoned nearly 25 years for rape who was exonerated by DNA evidence two years ago.

The resolution, which passed by a 132-25 vote, repays Robert Clark for his time in prison for a 1981 attack.

"Can you even fathom in your wildest imagination what it must be like for this man to lose his entire adult life, until now, incarcerated in prison, literally excommunicated from free society, beat down emotionally and probably physically, too?" asked state Rep. Larry O'Neal, the Warner Robins Republican who sponsored the measure.

It's the second million-dollar payment from the state to victims of wrongful convictions in recent years. Two years ago, the Legislature agreed to pay $1 million over 20 years to Clarence Harrison, another Georgia man who was freed after a wrongful imprisonment.

The payment is based on the income Clark lost while imprisoned, personal injury, injury to his reputation and other damages. In the future, however, Gov. Sonny Perdue said lawmakers should consider a uniform standard to compensate inmates freed by DNA.

"Rather than the emotional aspect on a case-by-case basis, I think we ought to have some guidelines to help us in the future," he said.

Clark, now 46, was convicted after a rape victim identified him from photo and police lineups, even though she earlier had said the rapist was much shorter than the 6-foot-1 Clark.

He spent the next 24 years in a series of five state prisons, where he got in a handful of fights and contracted Hepatitis C.

In 1999, Clark read an article about the Innocence Project, a New York-based organization that works to overturn wrongful convictions. He wrote for help, and attorneys took the case and eventually helped free Clark.

He was the 164th person nationally and the sixth in Georgia to be cleared by DNA evidence of a criminal conviction, according to The Innocence Project, a New York-based group that works to overturn wrongful convictions. In total, some 197 U.S. inmates have been cleared by DNA evidence, the group said.

On Monday, Clark thanked legislators for voting to repay him. "I'm so happy," Clark said after the measure passed. "Thank God!"

Compensation for exonerated inmates varies widely. A handful of those exonerated have filed lawsuits and won significantly more than $1.2 million, said Lisa George, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Innocence Project.

"Far and away, the most predominant number is, sadly, zero," she said. "Most of the 197 DNA exonerees nationwide have gotten no monetary compensation at all."

Since his release, Clark has received a couple of job promotions and hopes to become a crane operator. He plans to use some of the $100,000 lump sum he'll be given to buy a house, O'Neal said.

"8,393 nights he went to bed in prison away from his family and the free world _ an innocent man," he said. "I can't understand how Mr. Clark never gave up."