Devonia Inman seeks $1.61 million in compensation from State of Georgia
“Devonia Inman, currently seeking compensation from the State of Georgia for his wrongful conviction, walks out of prison in 2021 to greet his family,” according to the Georgia Innocence Project.
Devonia Inman, who spent more than 23 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit in Adel, is currently seeking $1,610,000 of compensation from the state for his wrongful conviction, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.
In November 2021, a Superior Court judge granted Inman’s petition for habeas corpus relief. On Dec. 20, 2021, Inman walked out of Augusta State Medical Prison and into the arms of family in time to celebrate his first Christmas as a free man in more than two decades.
Inman, who was accused of the 1998 murder of Taco Bell manager Donna Brown, claimed for years that he was wrongfully sentenced. The Georgia Innocence Project and other watchdog groups in criminal justice and media stayed vigilant with the Inman case. In particular, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Intercept created podcasts with international exposure, “Murder Below the Gnat Line” and “Murderville.”
The judge who eventually overturned the conviction cited “prosecutorial misconduct” and ineffective defense counsel as the reasoning behind her decision. Inman’s supporters linked Hercules Brown II, who is serving life in prison without parole for the November 2000 double murder of Carroll Bennett and Becky Browning in Adel, to the murder two years earlier of Donna Brown.
Despite Inman’s alibi and the complete lack of physical evidence tying him to the crime, Inman was convicted of armed robbery and malice murder, according to the Georgia Innocence Project. He was sentenced to life without parole, meaning he would have died in prison if not exonerated.
A hearing on compensation from the state for Inman’s wrongful conviction was held at 4 p.m. Monday, March 20, 2023, at the State Capitol in Atlanta, said Blis Savidge, Communications Manager for the Georgia Innocence Project.
Savidge confirmed that State Rep. Penny Houston of the 170th District was scheduled to bring HR 70 for compensation of Devonia Inman before the State Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Compensation. Savidge also said Inman’s attorneys at at Troutman Pepper, who litigated his case pro bono and secured his exoneration, were likely to present his compensation claim to the Senate Subcommittee.
“The most unsettling thing about the current process is the fact that a request for compensation can be denied for any reason; there are no standards or criteria,” Savidge said. “When it comes down to it, the fate of a compensation resolution comes down to a handful of individuals who can rely upon their own personal opinions or the prevailing political winds. If those individuals vote not to pass the resolution, there is no opportunity for the wrongfully convicted, exonerated person to appeal, try again, or request a second, independent review.
“One egregious example: In 2005, one exoneree was awarded $1 million after being imprisoned for 17 years; at the same time, two other wrongfully convicted veterans, imprisoned for 15 years and exonerated by DNA, were denied compensation completely after the prosecuting attorney wrote a defamatory letter to legislators, killing their compensation bills.”
The Georgia Innocence Project and other supporters are working to have HB 364, “the Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act,” passed during the 2023 legislative session.
State Rep. Houston is co-sponsoring House Bill 364, along with Rep. Holcomb of the 81st District, Buckner of the 137th District, Hugley of the 141st District, and Werkheiser of the 157th District.
According to the Georgia Innocence Project, the “Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act” seeks to implement a statutory process for fairly and uniformly compensating innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted. The Act:
• Creates a panel of experts under the existing Claims Advisory Board to evaluate wrongful conviction compensation claims and make recommendations.
• Provides uniformity and legislative control through clear eligibility and compensation criteria.
• Ensures only those who are innocent receive compensation.
• Awards $70,000 per year of wrongful incarceration, with an additional $25,000 for each year spent on Death Row, probation, or the sex offender registry.
• Avoids the need for individual resolutions by incorporating compensation into the Governor’s proposed budget.
• Protects the state from paying “double compensation” through a “civil offset provision.”
The Adel News will have more on this developing story.
It’s very simple!
You STOLE over 23 YEARS of this man young adult life!!! STOLEN!!!
PAY HIM!!!
He should not even have to ask smh…
Agreed. He shouldn’t have to ask. This is so sad but it keeps happening. When will enough be enough?
Isn’t this a common thread for black men to be convicted and imprisoned for a crime that they did not commit. Sadly many of these men are sentenced to death. 😔 When any of these men are finally exonerated they should be compensated with a reasonable sum of money. I personally think that no amount of money can justify taking away someone freedom. However, I feel these individuals should be paid 1 million for every year that they spent locked away in a prison.
Isn’t this a common thread for black men to be convicted and imprisoned for a crime that they did not commit. Sadly many of these men are sentenced to death. 😔 When any of these men are finally exonerated they should be compensated with a reasonable sum of money. I personally think that no amount of money can justify taking away someone freedom. However, I feel these individuals should be paid 1 million for every year that they spent locked away in a prison. Pay these people because they deserve it and it is simply the right thing to do.
It is deplorable that this young man was convicted. On lies from others that were recanted saying they were pressured by law officials to accuse him of the crime. Not to mention the crime spree went on even after he was incarcerated and another man was convicted of the crimes and his DNA was found on a ski mask that was in the murdered woman’s car (how the car was returned to her family with such an important piece of evidence laying on the passenger seat is beyond my range of understanding) and still you kept an innocent man in prison. Based on the words of an attorney that was obviously more into protecting his reputation than looking at the overwhelming evidence that was before him.
Do the right thing and pay this man for the 23 years you took away from him because of the incompetence of your legal system. It’s the right thing. The so-called justice system decided to do the wrong thing for 23 years! It’s time to do the right thing and compensate Davonia for the time he will never be able to get back and I agree…It is ridiculous that he would have to ask!
Whats right is right! That man was innocent and did 23 years in a prison system for nothing being treated less than human. To get out and over half his life is wasted inside for nothing, they think 70,000 a year can make up for his time and the torcher he dealt with inside those prisons? I mean theres not a price that can make that up! DNA proved he was innocent long before Georgia let him out so that shows the prejudice in this case and what he had to deal with in order to keep fighting and getting someone to right this wrong! They need to name the bill after him and also pay him dearly more than 70,000 a year for 23 years he deservesso much more for this wrong! I’m sure he is humble and willing to take anything but the fact of the matter is that political and injustice was behind this. The judge who dismissed the DNA evidence needs to pay as well because he had a obligation and ignored it just because! The prosecution needs to pay for trialing a case with forced testimony and fabricated witness accounts! There was never any physical evidence to put this man in jail and they did so anyways! Also not allowing his family in the courtroom during his trial as if he was alone and nobody cared for him was dead wrong and racial motivated in my eyes! You can find a person guilty and sentence them to life but he can’t have any family support in the courtroom. Pay this man and name that compensation house bill after him and maybe you all can sleep easy at night knowing you did that much but trying to still be bias on this concept of wrong being okay to be locked away for years and its so hard to get out and proove your innocence is flat out wrong! The system needs to be better and getting out needs to be as fast as they book you in not appeal after appeal and court hearings if it is wrong and the proof is there let them people out! God bless Devonte and his family and thank god for the Georgia innocence project and the work they do in helping these people!