TOPEKA Compensating Floyd Bledsoe for his wrongful murder conviction and nearly 16-year incarceration would cost the state of Kansas at least $1.4 million under a Senate bill considered Tuesday.

State budget director Shawn Sullivan wrote in a fiscal note to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Attorney Generals Office anticipates Senate Bill 125 would result in $1,250,000 in compensation plus up to $200,000 in attorney fees to Bledsoe.

SB 125 would compensate exonerees $80,000 for each year they served in prison or $1 million if they were on death row, along with $5 million to the heirs of anyone wrongfully executed in Kansas. It would also compensate a wrongfully convicted person for attorney fees he or she incurred.

There are so many things that I lost because of my wrongful conviction, Bledsoe told the Senate Judiciary Committee in prepared remarks. I lost the opportunity to watch my sons grow up. I lost my property and career. I lost my freedom.

Senate Bill 125 would ensure that other Kansans like me receive the financial compensation they need to get back on their feet and recover from the nightmare of a wrongful conviction.

Bledsoe was wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and killing Camille Arfmann in Oskaloosa in 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison but released in December 2015 after DNA results and suicide notes from his brother showcased his innocence.

The day that I was released from prison, I had nothing but the clothing that the (University of Kansas) law school provided for me, he told the committee. I had no money and no place to live.

No one testified in opposition to the bill Tuesday. Bledsoe plans to move ahead with a civil lawsuit regardless of the Legislatures action or inaction on SB 125.

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, asked whether it would be possible for con artists to use the bill as a scam by allowing themselves to be wrongfully convicted, serving time in prison, and then presenting evidence they had previously withheld proving their innocence to collect a payout.

With all due respect, no one in their right mind would do that, Bledsoe said.

Sen. Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg, said the bill doesnt address the issue of exonerees being released from prison with no money and few skills. She asked whether legislation has been put forth to remedy that problem. Those testifying said no such bill has been introduced.

Sen. David Haley, of Kansas City, is the bills sponsor and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. He urged his fellow committee members to imagine losing their liberty because a public employee a bad cop, bumbling prosecutor or erring judge locked them up for a crime they didnt commit.

Other supporters include the Innocence Project, the Midwest Innocence Project and the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Michelle Feldman, state policy advocate for the Innocence Project, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to remove an exemption in SB 125. Under the bill, defendants who plead guilty and are later exonerated wouldnt be eligible for compensation.

Given the tremendous pressures that innocent people sometimes face to plead guilty, Feldman said, Kansans who can prove their innocence by the high standard of clear and convincing evidence should be eligible for compensation.

She also urged the committee to expand the timeline for filing a wrongful conviction compensation claim from two years after an inmates release to two years after charges are dismissed. If that change is made and SB 125 is signed into law, three Kansas exonerees will be eligible for compensation, according to Feldman.

Were talking about a very, very small number of people, she said.

A state budget crunch that makes any bill with a price tag suspect is an elephant in the room. Bill supporters, acknowledging Kansas budget reality, were cautiously optimistic about SB 125s chances Tuesday. The committee took no action on the bill.

View post:

Floyd Bledsoe urges Kansas to compensate the wrongfully convicted: 'I lost my freedom' - The Garden City Telegram