Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 5 February 2020
Kansas no longer fighting claims of wrongly convicted man

By JOHN HANNA men and said, "We will
Associated Press make it right."
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas A bipartisan group of leg-
is dropping its fight against islators had been planning
the compensation claim a Feb. 17 rally to show their
from a man who spent 23 support for McIntyre and
years in prison for a double pressure Schmidt's office
homicide before a judge into backing McIntyre's
vacated convictions that compensation claim. State
were secured even though Rep. Cindy Holscher, a Kan-
no physical evidence or sas City-area Democrat,
motive tied him to the said it was "retraumatizing"
crimes, the state's attorney for McIntyre to face a court
general said Tuesday. battle over whether he was
Attorney General Derek compensated.
Schmidt said in an Associ- Holscher said many of her
ated Press interview that his fellow lawmakers thought
office made the decision McIntyre had already re-
after reviewing 900 pages ceived compensation from
of documents from Lamon- the state.
te McIntyre's attorney that "I think there was the as-
had not been provided to sumption that, well, of
it previously. He also said course, he was exoner-
an ongoing Kansas Bureau ated, why wouldn't he
of Investigation review of have been paid already?"
the 1994 crimes for which Holscher said. "Many were
McIntyre, from Kansas not aware of the fact that
City, Kansas, was charged this was going to be drag-
turned up new information. In this Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, file photo, Lamonte McIntyre, convicted of a 1994 double homi- ging out."
Schmidt said his office will cide in Kansas City, Kan., sits before the Senate Judiciary Committee where he urged them to ap- Schmidt said a compen-
work with McIntyre's at- prove a bill creating a compensation system in Kansas for people wrongfully convicted of crimes. sation claim is essentially a
torney on a settlement Associated Press lawsuit involving the state.
to present to a Shawnee In some cases, he said,
County District Court judge. compensation claim while were shot in broad day- recognizing that Lamonte his office can decide that
He said that under a 2018 agreeing to two others. light. qualifies for compensation compensation is warranted
Kansas law, McIntyre is "Because we knew there McIntyre received two life under the Kansas statute," by reviewing the existing
likely to receive $1.5 million was evidence that was sentences in their deaths, Cheryl Pilate, McIntyre's at- court record, but in Mc-
from the state — $65,000 for never placed in front of a but he was freed in 2017 torney, said in a statement. Intyre's case, he wanted to
each year he spent in pris- court, before we just signed after a local prosecutor "Lamonte is still dealing with review the additional evi-
on — plus money to cover off on a claim, we had an asked the court to vacate the effects of 23 years of dence available.
attorney fees and other ex- obligation to the new court his convictions and to drop wrongful imprisonment, but As for paying McIntyre,
penses. to collect and review all all charges, calling his case the funding and other sup- he said: I'm hopeful there
McIntyre's case was one of the evidence," Schmidt an example of "manifest in- port provided by the stat- won't be much further de-
of several that prompted said. "We've now done justice." Prosecutors' case ute will now make his load lay."
the law requiring the state that." had largely hinged on tes- a little easier to bear." Democratic Gov. Laura
to compensate victims of McIntyre was 17 in 1994 timony that was allegedly When signing the wrongful- Kelly and the top eight
wrongful convictions, and when he was arrested for coerced. conviction compensation leaders of the Republi-
Schmidt, a Republican, had the killings of 21-year-old "Today's decision by the law, then-Republican Gov. can-controlled Legislature
received bipartisan criti- Doniel Quinn and 34-year- Kansas Attorney General Jeff Colyer apologized to would have to review any
cism for resisting McIntyre's old Donald Ewing, who goes one step further, by McIntyre and the other settlement language. q

Tulsa searches for remains of victims of 1921 race massacre

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The investigators announced and a recovery effort in a As many as 300 people there people there? And if
city of Tulsa will conduct a that geophysical surveys more thoughtful and well- were killed, hundreds more they are there, are they in
test excavation at an area conducted in October planned-out fashion." injured and thousands left coffins?"
cemetery as part of an on- had found anomalies con- Tulsa's mayor announced homeless. Tulsa's prosper- City officials also provided
going effort to find remains sistent with possible graves. in 2018 that the city would ous black business district an update on its search at
of victims of a 1921 race "We would see this as an re-examine sites in search known as Black Wall Street Rolling Oaks Cemetery. The
massacre, officials said. intermediate step," Kary of victims of the 1921 mas- was destroyed. city has said that the cem-
The test excavation at Stackelbeck, a state ar- sacre. The sites were last in- Stackelbeck said the test etery's owners have been
Oaklawn Cemetery, chaeologist, said. "If we spected by the Tulsa Race excavation at Oaklawn reluctant to allow a site
planned for April, was an- were to identify evidence Riot Commission in the late will provide much more identified by historical in-
nounced during the city's that we seem to believe at 1990s and early 2000s. detail than the geophysi- vestigators to be surveyed
Mass Graves Investigation the time is consistent with The massacre happened cal surveys did. because it is beneath
Public Oversight Commit- race massacre victims, we over the course of 16 hours, "With the geophysical some known interments.
tee meeting on Monday, would want to leave them from May 31 to June 1, data, it doesn't see bod- Deputy Mayor Amy Brown
the Tulsa World reported. in a state that allows for us 1921, when mobs of white ies," Stackelbeck said. "It said officials are now close
The meeting came a little to come back and under- residents attacked black doesn't tell us who's down to an agreement with the
more than a month after take future investigations residents and businesses. there. It doesn't tell us, are cemetery's owners.q