Man cleared of rape after spending more than 20 years in prison is awarded $18.5m in compensation

A man who was cleared of a 1984 rape after spending more than 20 years in prison has been awarded $18.5million in compensation by a jury.
Alan Newton was cleared by DNA evidence in 2006. He had been sentenced in 1985 to up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of raping a woman in an abandoned building.
On Tuesday a federal jury in New York ruled the city had violated Newton's constitutional rights.
It also found two police officers had failed to produce Newton's evidence when requested. He had been asking for a rape kit from the case to be produced for about a decade before it was found in a police warehouse in 2005.
The city says it will appeal.
Newton, now 49, told The New York Times it's something he'd been fighting for since he was freed in 2006.

'I’m just real numb right now,' he was quoted as saying.
'It hasn’t really sunk in. It’s so emotional. It’s something I’ve been fighting for the last four years, since I came home.'
He said he was in no rush to celebrate.

'There’ll be time for celebration, but there are some other things to take care of,' he said.
'I’ve had a lot of patience in my life. I’ve learned not to rush anything. Good things take time. This decision took time, but it was worth every moment.'
Newton's case has been supported by the nonprofit Innocence Project, which seeks to free convicts through DNA evidence.

'I'm just real numb right now... It's something I've been fighting for since I came home'

It said that of about 50 people it had represented in the last five years, half had received the DNA evidence in their cases from the city of New York.
In the cases of the other half, the city was either unable to produce the evidence or explain what had happened to it.
Newton's lawyer John Schutty said the city had been in a patter of 'failing to pay proper attention'.
In the other cases, the city was unable to produce the evidence or explain what had happened to it.
Since his release from prison Newton has completed his studies at college and is now working with an initiative helping to ensure that black males graduate.
He also plans to apply for law school.
He said that in the future he would like to do public interest work - namely, preventing poor people in rough neighbourhoods from suffering the same fate he did.
'I think I'll jump into it with both arms,' he said.