Six months ago, Erie County was facing nearly half a dozen civil trials and pushing back against other multimillion-dollar judgments. Then last month, a federal jury awarded an $80 million judgment against the county for the wrongful conviction of Darryl Boyd, a Buffalo man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he swore he didn’t commit.
The Boyd case was one of a number of high-profile cases the county was expecting to defend against, all of which have long-term implications for the county’s finances and debt.
As the end of the year approaches, some cases have been settled and cleared off the table.
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The $4.5 million figure does not count additional, undistributed settlements from last year and multimillion-dollar civil judgments the county is still trying to fight on appeal.
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Darryl A. Boyd, left, and John H. Walker each served 20-plus years in prison for a 1976 murder they say they did not commit. A judge set aside the convictions in 2021.
Derek Gee, News file photo
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Erie County could have settled a lawsuit over the death of inmate Richard A. Metcalf Jr. for $17 million, but instead took the case to a trial that ended with a jury’s $95 million judgment against the county on Monday – the largest known civil verdict ever against the county.
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