The settlement total in 2024 was in part driven by several wrongful conviction cases in Queens, settled decades after the initial arrests. Three Queens cases alone, each totaling around $15 million, accounted for nearly 22 percent of the total taxpayer settlements made by the city in 2024.
Among them was the case of Rohan Bolt and Gary Johnson, who, alongside George Bell, were wrongfully convicted of a double murder in 1996. The three men, who were officially found to have been wrongfully convicted in March 2021, spent a combined 72 years in prison for a crime none of them committed.
In April, Bolt was awarded $15.2 million, and Johnson was awarded $15 million — Bell, who settled his lawsuit against the city in 2023, was awarded $17.5 million…