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Wrongfully convicted Nevada woman receives $2.8M in settlement following new state law (32 years in prison. (She was innocent)
8news ^ | 10/12/2020 | Caroline Bleakley

Posted on 10/12/2020 9:40:52 PM PDT by Signalman

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Nevada woman has been awarded a $2.8 million settlement from the state of Nevada and a Certificate of Innocence after spending 32 years in prison on a wrongful murder conviction.

Cathy Woods, 68, also known as Anita Carter, was released from prison in 2015 when new DNA evidence linked the 1976 killing of a Reno college student to an Oregon inmate, Rodney Halbower, who has since has been convicted of two San Francisco Bay Area slayings that happened during the same period.

In August 2019, the Washoe County Commission voted to pay Woods nearly $3 million to settle a federal lawsuit that named the former county district attorney. Wood’s lawsuit claimed she was “intentionally framed” by authorities because she was poorly educated and suffered severe mental illness.

The state’s settlement of $2.8 million comes after Woods filed a lawsuit against the state last year after the Nevada Legislature passed a law allowing people wrongfully convicted to seek damages. The settlement was approved by a judge on Friday, Oct. 9.

In 1981, following statements made while confined in a mental institution in Louisiana, Ms. Woods was charged and twice convicted of Ms. Mitchell’s murder in Washoe County.

“As your attorney general, the pursuit of justice is paramount to the mission of my office, and I’m encouraged that after so many years, Ms. Woods has been declared an innocent woman and will receive compensation for the years of freedom she lost,” said Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. “While no amount of money can ever replace our freedom, I couldn’t be prouder of the attorneys in my office who worked on this case to obtain justice for Ms. Woods. As I told them, ‘Our job is justice, and you have done a great job of delivering it.'”

Woods was the longest-ever wrongfully incarcerated woman in U.S. history, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: nevada; prison

1 posted on 10/12/2020 9:40:52 PM PDT by Signalman
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To: Signalman

“In 1981, following statements made while confined in a mental institution in Louisiana, Ms. Woods was charged and twice convicted of Ms. Mitchell’s murder in Washoe County”

What did she say?


2 posted on 10/12/2020 9:44:11 PM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: ifinnegan

Probably, “I’m innocent.”


3 posted on 10/12/2020 9:48:41 PM PDT by stars & stripes forever (Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. (Psalm 32:12))
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To: Signalman

Hopefully she gets financial help to manage that money so she doesn’t find herself milked by people and broke in a few years.


4 posted on 10/12/2020 9:53:13 PM PDT by Reno89519 (Buy American, Hire American! End All Worker Visa Programs. Replace Visa Workers w/ American Workers)
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To: Signalman

$87,500 per year in prison.

Absolutely horrible.

Poor woman.


5 posted on 10/12/2020 9:59:18 PM PDT by Meatspace
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To: Reno89519

1st piece of advice - move out of california, they’ll tax it all back


6 posted on 10/12/2020 10:04:40 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Secret Agent Man
What’s California got to do with it? 👆
7 posted on 10/12/2020 10:17:13 PM PDT by Laslo Fripp (The Sybil of Free Republic)
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To: Signalman

Any prosecutor who knowingly prosecutes an innocent person should be brought up on charges.


8 posted on 10/12/2020 10:31:19 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is thp at they are both death cults.)
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To: Signalman
At 68 with decades of the crap medical treatment inmates get (my experience is with NC Dept of Corrections) a few years is about what this woman has left.
9 posted on 10/12/2020 10:33:48 PM PDT by robowombat (Orthodox)
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To: Jonty30

They should serve 5he sentence of the person wrongfully convicted.


10 posted on 10/12/2020 10:41:40 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (With age comes wisdom or well practiced ignorance)
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To: Secret Agent Man

dunno for some reason i pegged on california :/


11 posted on 10/12/2020 10:50:54 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Signalman
New York cops railroaded an innocent mentally challenged man, Anthony Capozzi, for a series of rapes and murders he was incapable of committing. He spent 22 years in prison.

His mother, a devout Catholic, went to church and prayed for him every day until he was found to be innocent and released. Thankfully she lived long enough to see her son exonerated.

The Wikipedia entry glosses over the deliberate sloppiness of the police investigation.

Altemio Sanchez

Anthony Capozzi exonerated

12 posted on 10/12/2020 11:01:42 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: ifinnegan

She confessed and detailed the murder, obviously falsely.


13 posted on 10/13/2020 12:28:47 AM PDT by Eagles6
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To: Jonty30

They’d rather clear cases than seek justice.

They will bundle cases even but offer someone a plea bargain just to close some files.


14 posted on 10/13/2020 1:08:16 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Joe Biden- "First thing I'd do is repeal those Trump tax cuts." (May 4th, 2019)l)
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To: Signalman
Sorry we stole your life. Here's some taxpayer money that isn't ours.


15 posted on 10/13/2020 3:23:08 AM PDT by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: Meatspace

George Floyd’s family got more money.

What a travesty.


16 posted on 10/13/2020 3:35:33 AM PDT by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds.)
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To: Signalman

Not nearly enough.


17 posted on 10/13/2020 3:41:45 AM PDT by eastexsteve
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To: Signalman

It’s cases like this that give me pause in my long-time support of the death penalty.


18 posted on 10/13/2020 5:06:53 AM PDT by trebb (Don't howl about illegal leeches, or Trump in general, while not donating to FR - it's hypocritical.)
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