The State of Maryland will award an additional $806,000 in compensation to Bernard Webster, a man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for a 1982 rape he did not commit. Mr. Webster became eligible for the award under the Walter Lomax Act, a law passed last year following years of advocacy. Brown, Goldstein & Levy attorney Neel Lalchandani, who has taken on several high-impact wrongful imprisonment cases, represented Mr. Webster. The Maryland Daily Record covered this case and Mr. Webster’s additional compensation in a story published last week.
Following DNA testing in 2002, Mr. Webster became the first person exonerated under Maryland’s post-conviction DNA law. His initial compensation from the State totaled $900,000 in 2003. However, under the Walter Lomax Act, Mr. Webster became eligible for an additional award to bring the total compensation up to $1.7 million. The award also includes benefits like education opportunities, job training, and healthcare.
Neel told The Daily Record that the additional money and benefits will allow Mr. Webster to enter a new stage of his life.
“It’s hard, when you miss out on two decades of the prime of your life, to build a meaningful career and to have the stability and the savings and the skill set to move into retirement comfortably,” Neel said in a quote to The Daily Record. “Mr. Webster will be able to use this money to have transportation and to have a place of his own and to really, hopefully, experience some peace and stability.”
Last fall, Neel also represented clients Kirk Bloodsworth and Leslie Vass, two Maryland exonerees who received supplemental compensation under the Walter Lomax Act.