Over $750,000 Awarded in California Wrongful Conviction

A California state compensation board recently awarded $756,900 to a man who wrongly spent nearly 21 years in prison for the death of his girlfriend’s child, now believed to have been an accident.

The amount, which represents $100 for every day he spent in prison, was awarded to Kenneth Marsh by the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, and was the largest the board has ever offered for a wrongful conviction, according to a board spokeswoman.

Marsh, who is now 58, was convicted in 1983 of second- degree murder after his girlfriend's 2-year-old son, Phillip Buell, died from a head injury. Marsh had refused all plea deals, maintaining that the boy fell from a couch and hit his head on the fireplace. Prosecutor's said Marsh beat the boy to death.

Almost 21 years after the boy's death, the San Diego district attorney asked for a new trial for Marsh when doctors raised doubt about Marsh's guilt. The case was later dropped and Marsh was released from prison that year.

The doctors, who were retained by Marsh's attorneys, believed that a drug administered by physicians in 1983 to treat the boy's head injury (called Mannitol), actually caused his death.

In a separate action, Marsh filed a $50M lawsuit against the doctors and hospital that originally treated Phillip, alleging they conspired to "cover up" the medical malpractice that contributed to the boy's death and Marsh's wrongful conviction.

"Nothing can make up for the time I spent in prison unless they gave me 21 years back," Marsh said after the board hearing. An apology from San Bernardino County district attorney Michael Ramos, who is a member of the board, though, "goes a long way."

The compensation board's award must still be approved by the state legislature. Lawmakers were expected to vote to allocate the money, said board spokeswoman Fran Clader.

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, www.seattlepi.nwsource.com