To settle a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the Chicago police, the city recently agreed to pay Harold Hill $1.25 million.
What never became public was that, to reach the settlement late last year, two detectives in the case that sent Hill to prison for 12 years for a rape and murder he insisted he did not commit agreed to contribute, too. It was not much next to the total settlement — $7,500 each — yet it apparently meant something to Hill.
Without a doubt, the bottom feeders use this tactic to pressure the City over certain issues. And the City knows that as punitive damages start to stack up...you get the idea.
The article closes with this amusing aside:
- As for Hill, he will not be able to spend his money in the outside world — at least not for some time. After he was cleared of the Morgan murder and released from prison, he was arrested on unrelated armed robbery charges and was convicted. He is serving a 27-year prison sentence.
He wins over a million, plus punitive damages and is still doing 27 years for another armed robbery. Must have missed that "turning his life around" window somewhere along the line. Unless he's looking to sue the police for this one, too.