Assembly OKs conviction compensation (UPDATE)

By: Dan Shaw, [email protected]//March 18, 2014//

Listen to this article

Robert Stinson smiles with his sister, Charlene Stinson, in New Lisbon after being released from prison on Jan. 30, 2009. Stinson served 23 years in prison for a homicide he didn’t commit. (AP File Photo/Andy Manis)

The state Assembly passed a bill Tuesday giving additional compensation to a man who was wrongfully convicted of homicide.

Robert Lee Stinson was convicted in 1985 of killing a Milwaukee woman. A judge freed him in 2009 after the Wisconsin Innocence Project argued bite-mark analysis and DNA evidence didn’t match evidence from the crime scene.

Stinson asked for $129,000 in compensation. The state Claims Board awarded him $25,000, the maximum allowed under state law in 2010, but recommended the state give him another $90,000.

Republicans and Democrats introduced a bill in August that would give Stinson the extra money. The Senate passed the measure in November but amended it to give Stinson $136,000.

But the bill the Assembly passed 96-3 on Tuesday only awarded the originally recommended $90,000, meaning the legislation will have to pass the Senate a second time before Gov. Scott Walker can sign it into law.

The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

Select Region or Brand

Upcoming Event