Jury awards record $27 million in wrongful conviction case

Good morning, Chicago.

In what may be a local record for a wrongful conviction case, a federal jury awarded $27 million to a man who spent more than two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted in a double-fatal arson as a teenager, finding that Chicago police coerced his confession, fabricated evidence and violated his civil rights.

As the verdict was announced in U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang’s courtroom, the plaintiff, Adam Gray, bowed his head and leaned into his attorney, Jon Loevy, who hugged his shoulders.

“Adam was arrested before breakfast, they had the case closed before noon, and were home early for dinner,” Loevy said in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. “It took 24 years for the system to sort it out.”

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jason Meisner.

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