The wait is finally over for Arthur Lee Whitfield. Five years after he was released based on newly discovered evidence and months after he was pardoned, Whitfield was awarded over $600 thousand in compensation for his wrongful conviction.

The Virginia General Assembly called a one-day special session Wednesday to discuss compensation for Whitfield, who was wrongfully convicted of a pair of rapes in 1980. The assembly passed legislation to award him $633,000.

Under the bill, Whitfield will be paid $126,573 within 30 days of the legislation being signed into law by Gov. Timothy Kaine. The remaining funds will come in the form of annuities to be paid out over time.

Whitfield, who has been struggling to pay his bills through his job at a produce factory, says the money will be a big help for him to get by and give back to his parents and attorneys who have stood by him. 

Whitfield was recently diagnosed with liver cancer and started chemotherapy treatment. The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project congratulates him on his much overdue compensation and applauds the Virginia General Assembly for giving him the money he deserves. We wish him well on his recovery from cancer.

For more coverage on the news, click here: http://hamptonroads.com/2009/08/wrongly-convicted-norfolk-man-get-633000-va

For more details on the Whitfield case, click here: http://www.exonerate.org/case-profiles/arthur-lee-whitfield/

Technorati Tags: MAIP, Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, Arthur Lee Whitfield, Compensation, Exoneration, Virginia General Assembly

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