Wiley Bridgeman; Kwame Ajamu; Brothers spent decades in prison for crime they did not commit get initial payment of $1.6 million. (There was utterly no evidence against them. The police used one of the oldest tricks in the book: They laid the charge on the basis of a 12-year-old boy's statement that he witnessed the commission of the crime: Eddie Vernon now says that, "once he told authorities the names of the three and the fact that he saw the slaying, Cleveland police fed him information about the crime." (So that's how it's done - one of way too many ways - and that's a casebook example of how innocent people are condemned to living hell, and lose decades of their lives. HL);

STORY: "Correcting a horrible wrong: Brothers who spent decades in prison for crime they didn't commit get initial payment of $1.6 million," by reporter John Kuntz, published by the Plain Dealer on April 6, 2015.

 GIST: "A judge ruled Friday that two brothers wrongly convicted for a 1975 slaying they didn't commit will receive $1.6 million in an initial payment for the decades they spent in Ohio prisons. Judge Patrick McGrath of the Ohio Court of Claims said Wiley Bridgeman, 60, will get a check for $969,093, while his brother, Kwame Ajamu, 57, will be given $647,578. Ajamu had changed his name from Ronnie Bridgeman.........McGrath directed the money to be sent to the men's attorneys to establish an annuity account to pay for the damages caused by the wrongful imprisonment. Bridgeman and Jackson were released in November. They had served 39 years in prison. Their release came just days after the key witness in the slaying admitted on the witness stand that he lied during his testimony in order to help police. Ajamu was released in 2003, after serving 27 years in prison. Eddie Vernon, the witness who, as a 12-year-old boy, told police a lie about something he did not see, testified at a hearing before then-Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle. Soon after hearing Vernon's emotional testimony, prosecutors agreed to drop their case. In 1975, authorities built their case against Jackson, Bridgeman and Ajamu on Vernon, who said he simply wanted to help police. He said a friend gave him the three men's names, and Vernon told police he saw the slaying. In fact, he now says, he wasn't close, as the school bus he rode was not near the crime scene, the Fairmont Cut-Rite on Fairhill Road, which is now Stokes Boulevard. Authorities said two men attacked Harold Franks as he walked to the store. They beat him, threw acid in his face and one of the men shot him twice. The shooter also fired a round that hit Anna Robinson, the wife of the store's owner. The men stole Franks' briefcase and fled to a waiting car. Authorities accused Jackson of shooting Franks. There was no evidence linking the three men to the crime. Vernon said that once he told authorities the names of the three and the fact that he saw the slaying, Cleveland police fed him information about the crime."

The entire story can be found out: 

http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2015/04/correcting_a_horrible_wrong_br.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
 
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;