ELKHART, Ind. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- There’s been a record-breaking wrongful conviction lawsuit settlement in Elkhart, Indiana.
The settlement - $11,725,000 – is the largest wrongful conviction settlement in Indiana history, according to Chicago attorney Elliot Slossar.
Andrew Royer, a man with an intellectual disability, confessed to a murder after two days of interrogation. Royer's attorneys argued that an Elkhart police detective exploited their client's mental disability.
A jury convicted Royer of murder in 2005 and he was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the November 2002 slaying of Helen Sailor, who was found strangled in her Elkhart apartment.
He spent 16 years in prison following his conviction that was overturned in 2021, because of what a judge said was "egregious police and prosecutorial misconduct" including falsifying and withholding evidence.
“Andy Royer deserves the world for the serious injustice that he suffered,” said Elliot Slosar, Mr. Royer’s attorney.
“While Andy can never get those 16 years back, with this record-breaking settlement, the City of Elkhart readily acknowledges its part in framing Andy for a crime he did not commit.”
The detective on the case, Carl Conway, was later fired. The Chief said at the time that his misconduct “amounts to an assault upon the institution of justice.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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