Desmond Ricks was wrongfully convicted of murder, and after spending over 20 years in prison, he was released in 2017. Although the Detroit man received over $7 million from a separate lawsuit, a Court of Appeals decision has now ordered him to return more than one million dollars of that money to the state.
Ricks spent approximately 25 years in state prison, consistently asserting his innocence in a murder case.
After his release, Ricks received compensation under the state’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA), which provided him with about $50,000 for each year he was incarcerated.
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One of his attorneys, Wolf Mueller, told WXYZ, “Desmond Ricks endured the worst harm and suffering you can imagine. 25 years in a cage for a crime he didn’t commit. The compensation under the state, a million and a quarter, doesn’t come close to the harm he suffered.”
After settling a lawsuit with the City of Detroit for $7.5 million, Ricks was required by the state to repay $1 million to the WICA fund. This amount was what he had previously received from the fund.
Ricks was compelled by law to return compensation received under the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA) because a third party, the city of Detroit, had already issued a settlement. Despite Ricks’ legal challenge to retain the WICA funds, the state court ruled against him, citing the requirement to pay back if compensated by an external source.
According to State Senator Joe Bellino of Monroe, the situation is not a simple matter of dispensing WICA funds and resolving the issue.
He explained that recovering the money has become even more vital, especially after the state’s fund was depleted years ago. This is necessary in case Ricks and other individuals who were also wrongly convicted file lawsuits against police agencies and municipalities and are awarded damages.
“This was a bipartisan bill. If it comes up again, we’ll vote not to let him do that,” Sen. Bellino said. “There’s no way in the world I would vote to let someone get that money, and then get 7.5 million or whatever he got. The state isn’t a huge bucket to double-dip when there is a mistake made.”
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Ricks’s separate lawsuit targeted the City of Detroit and two police officers, alleging they falsified evidence related to bullets in 1992.
Given the numerous similar cases, Mueller argued that the rules of the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA) should be changed. He believes the amendments should permit former inmates to retain all funds they receive, including any from successful lawsuits, in addition to WICA compensation.
“No amount of money can make up for harm of a quarter century and your entire adult life lost, so to say 50K a year was paid is peanuts compared to the harm?” Mueller said.
Ricks previously expressed that, beyond the years stolen from his life, he was also deprived of the opportunity to witness his two daughters’ childhoods.
After the compensation was granted in 2022, he told the media, “I’m not greedy. I’m thankful. It’s a blessing to be alive with my children and grandchildren. It was a blessing to not lose my life in there.”
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