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Wednesday, February 17, 2010 07:52Larimer County, Co., will pay $4.1 million to a man they successfully prosecuted for the 1987 slaying and mutilation of a woman after the conviction eventually overturned by DNA evidence, reports the Los Angeles Times. Timothy Lee Masters, 38, spent nearly a decade in prison before the new evidence pointed to another suspect and led a judge to toss out his conviction in 2008.
Masters filed a federal lawsuit against prosecutors and police, claiming they conspired to frame him and withheld evidence that could have cleared him. Attorney David Lane said the settlement would afford Masters -- who lives in northern Colorado and has struggled to make a living selling items on EBay -- the financial security to move forward. "He was released without a penny to his name. No $100 and a suit of clothes for Tim. He couldn't pay a parking ticket up to a couple of months ago," Lane said.
