Before Gregory Berry could walk out of prison in December 2020 after more than 17 years behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit, he said he had faced a difficult choice: Agree not to sue for wrongful imprisonment or remain incarcerated for life.
Berry says his attorney told him that Wayne County prosecutors insisted on the waiver and that he had to make a decision soon whether to accept the offer. At the time, he says he was extremely ill with COVID-19 and feared he was going to die in custody. It was one week before Christmas, and he wanted to see his family.
It seemed like a great deal at first. He was serving a life sentence for his alleged role in a fatal shooting at a gas station in Detroit…