Advocate: Fees, Loans Threaten Pardoned Brothers' Livelihood

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Lawyer fees and high-interest loans are threatening the financial futures of two North Carolina brothers who have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for their three decades of wrongful imprisonment, a court-appointed advocate said Wednesday. The advocate argued in a legal motion that Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were steered into dubious financial arrangements by lawyers who stand to profit from the men's lawsuit against the investigators who put them behind bars. In his filing Wednesday, Tarlton said the legal fees and interest on loans would leave McCollum with only about $178,000 of his $500,000 share of the proposed settlement with the town of Red Springs. Yet Tartlon notes that in the months after receiving the payout, McCollum's finances had deteriorated to the point that he took out high-interest loans of $50,000 and $15,000 against any future settlements. Defense attorneys have said they were scared teens with low IQs who were berated by investigators and fed details about the crime before they signed fabricated confessions. A break in the case happened after the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission got involved several years ago and had a new DNA analysis done on evidence from the crime scene.

 

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