DENVER (AP) -- How much does Colorado owe people imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit? How about $70,000 a year?
A state House committee starts work Thursday on a proposal to set compensation rates for people wrongly incarcerated. The bill was inspired by a western Colorado man who is surviving on food stamps and donations after serving a decade in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit.
Robert Dewey was exonerated last year by DNA evidence and plans to visit the Colorado Capitol to argue in favor of compensation for the wrongly imprisoned.
The bill up for debate in a House committee sets compensation at $70,000 a year in prison, and $25,000 a year for people who were wrongly on parole, probation or a sex offender registry.
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