Ohio court OKs $238K for inmate freed by DNA

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An Ohio court has approved a nearly $238,000 state settlement with a man who spent a quarter-century in prison until he was cleared by a DNA test.

Joseph Fears Jr., 62, had been in prison since 1983 for two rapes when he was released last year.

At that time, prosecutors said new DNA testing on evidence in one rape linked the crime to a Michigan prisoner, who had died. They said underwear collected from the victim of the other contained no male DNA.

Fears was one of 30 inmates profiled in a 2008 series by The Columbus Dispatch, which examined cases where applications for new DNA testing had been held up.

Weeks after he regained his freedom, Fears sued the state.

The settlement still needs an OK from a panel of Ohio lawmakers.

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