Wrongfully Convicted New York Man Could Get $3.75M

A mentally disabled man could get a $3.75 million settlement from the city of Rochester for a wrongful murder conviction.

Douglas Warney, who has an IQ of 68, spent more than a decade behind bars after confessing to the stabbing death of community activist William Beason in 1996. He was freed in 2006 when DNA tests prosecutors initially tried to block tied another man to the killing.

Don Thompson, Warney’s lawyer, says Monday the negotiated settlement was agreed to by Mayor Tom Richards and needs final City Council approval at a Dec. 13 meeting.

Thompson says Warney also has a smaller state claim pending before the Court of Appeals. That could be wrapped up by year-end.

His defenders say Warney’s delusional ramblings led to his conviction in February 1997.