$756,900 compensation for wrongful jailing
Man who spent 21 years in prison for toddler's death gets $100 for each day
Updated: 8:41 a.m. ET Jan. 20, 2006
SAN DIEGO - A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for a toddlers death, now believed to have been an accident, was awarded $756,900 by a state compensation board $100 for every day he spent in prison.
The payment awarded Thursday to Kenneth Marsh was the largest the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board has offered for a wrongful conviction, a board spokeswoman said.
Nothing can make up for the time I spent in prison unless they gave me 21 years back, Marsh said after the hearing. Though he said an apology from San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos, a member of the board, goes a long way.
Marsh, now 50, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1983 death of his girlfriends son, 3-year-old Philip Buell. Marsh had refused a plea deal, maintaining that the boy fell from a couch and hit his head on the fireplace hearth. Prosecutors argued that Marsh beat the boy.
Drug blamed
In 2004, the San Diego district attorney asked for a new trial and later dropped the case when a doctor raised doubt about Marshs guilt. Marsh was released from prison that year and married Philips mother.
Doctors retained by Marshs attorneys believe the drug mannitol, which was administered by physicians at Childrens Hospital to treat the head injury, was a substantial factor in the boys death.
Marsh has filed a $50 million federal lawsuit against doctors at the hospital and a coroners investigator, alleging they conspired to cover up alleged medical malpractice that contributed to the boys death.
The lawsuit alleges the drug exacerbated the bleeding and swelling in Philips brain after he fell in his home. Philip, who had an undiagnosed blood disorder, had been stabilized at Alvarado Hospital before being transported to Childrens Hospital and given mannitol, according to Marshs attorney, Donnie Cox.
Lawyers for the defendants named in the lawsuit deny all allegations. One hospital attorney called the allegations far-fetched in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Man who spent 21 years in prison for toddler's death gets $100 for each day
Updated: 8:41 a.m. ET Jan. 20, 2006
SAN DIEGO - A man who spent nearly 21 years in prison for a toddlers death, now believed to have been an accident, was awarded $756,900 by a state compensation board $100 for every day he spent in prison.
The payment awarded Thursday to Kenneth Marsh was the largest the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board has offered for a wrongful conviction, a board spokeswoman said.
Nothing can make up for the time I spent in prison unless they gave me 21 years back, Marsh said after the hearing. Though he said an apology from San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos, a member of the board, goes a long way.
Marsh, now 50, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1983 death of his girlfriends son, 3-year-old Philip Buell. Marsh had refused a plea deal, maintaining that the boy fell from a couch and hit his head on the fireplace hearth. Prosecutors argued that Marsh beat the boy.
Drug blamed
In 2004, the San Diego district attorney asked for a new trial and later dropped the case when a doctor raised doubt about Marshs guilt. Marsh was released from prison that year and married Philips mother.
Doctors retained by Marshs attorneys believe the drug mannitol, which was administered by physicians at Childrens Hospital to treat the head injury, was a substantial factor in the boys death.
Marsh has filed a $50 million federal lawsuit against doctors at the hospital and a coroners investigator, alleging they conspired to cover up alleged medical malpractice that contributed to the boys death.
The lawsuit alleges the drug exacerbated the bleeding and swelling in Philips brain after he fell in his home. Philip, who had an undiagnosed blood disorder, had been stabilized at Alvarado Hospital before being transported to Childrens Hospital and given mannitol, according to Marshs attorney, Donnie Cox.
Lawyers for the defendants named in the lawsuit deny all allegations. One hospital attorney called the allegations far-fetched in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
THERE IS NO WAY 750k IS WORTH 21 YEARS OF MY LIFE....
