ONEIDA COUNTY, N.Y. (WKTV) – A court of claims has awarded $3.5 million to the local man wrongfully convicted of a murder he didn’t commit.
Steven Barnes spent nearly 20 years in prison for the 1985 murder of Kimberly Simon.
Former State Court of Claims Judge Norman Siegel awarded Barnes the $3.5 million back in October, but the New York City law firm that represented Barnes in his claim only recently made public the settlement.
The money comes from New York State.
Barnes has been working for Oneida County Workforce development, helping released prisoners find work and housing.
In 2009, we asked Barnes, what made him choose the job.
“Guys run into these obstacles, I talk to them and they say ‘what do you know,'” Barnes said. “I say ‘I know. I’ve been in there.’ And to come out into the community and try to get out on the right foot sometimes…you need assistance and help.”
An Oneida County Judge vacated Barnes’ conviction and sentence in November 2008, citing a joint motion by the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office and The Innocence Project.
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