Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 12:45 pm News Flash Archive

This morning, Montgomery County Circuit Judge George Mitchell signed an Agreed Judgment awarding Curtis Flowers $500,000 for 23 years of wrongful imprisonment by the State of Mississippi, the maximum amount allowed by law.

The Court's Judgment may be seen here: Judgment awarding Damages to Curtis Flowers

According to state law, the judgment will be paid in $50,000 increments each year for the next 10 years.

The State of Mississippi agreed that Flowers should be paid the money. Flowers' attorney Robert McDuff will also be paid $50,000 according to state law.

As first reported by The Taxpayers Channel, the State Legislature has begun the process to appropriate the money needed to pay this year's installment and the legal fees. Our report may be seen here: Payment to Curtis Flowers approved by Mississippi House of Representatives

Flowers was charged with the murder of four persons (Robert Golden, Carmen Rigby, BoBo Stewart, and Bertha Tardy) at the Tardy Furniture Store in Winona in 1996, and was tried six times. He was convicted and sentenced to death four times, but each time his conviction was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. At two other trials, the jury hung and could not return a verdict.

After the US Supreme Court threw out Flowers' last conviction in June 2019, the state declined to try the case a seventh time, and the court dismissed the charges against Flowers. Many of the state's witnesses have recanted, and other crucial parts of the state's case have collapsed.

More background about the Flowers case may be found in our previous reporting, which may be seen here: Curtis Flowers sues state for wrongful imprisonment compensation

Because the State of Mississippi joined in requesting the Court to award the money to Flowers for wrongful imprisonment, there will be no appeal.

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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