DENVER — Stephen Martinez – freed from prison after a judge on Tuesday vacated his murder conviction in the 1998 death of a 4-month-old girl – could be eligible for nearly $2 million in compensation for the 27-plus years he spent behind bars.
But there’s a hurdle he has to cross before being eligible for the money provided under a state law passed in 2013 aimed at redressing wrongful convictions: He has to convince a judge or jury that he’s actually innocent.
“Our exoneration statute provides for no compensation if it was merely a situation where the evidence was not sufficient to prove an individual guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Scott Robinson, a longtime defense attorney and 9NEWS legal analyst…