16 years of innocent imprisonment Woman receives 34 million US dollars in compensation

For decades, Kirstin Lobato fought against an injustice that destroyed her life. Now she is receiving 34 million dollars in compensation - and symbolic reparation for the years she lost.

After more than a decade of injustice, Kirstin Lobato, once wrongly convicted of murder, has finally received justice. A court in the USA awarded her 34 million US dollars in damages as well as additional fines from two police officers, as reported by Bild.

The case, which made headlines for decades, ends not only with an acquittal, but also with compensation that underlines the extent of the judicial scandal.

A crime she did not commit

The story began in 2001, when the then 18-year-old Lobato from Nevada was questioned by the police without a lawyer. She was accused of brutally murdering the homeless man Duran Bailey.

Bailey was found in Las Vegas near a garbage can with his neck slashed, a broken skull and missing genitals.

Although there was no evidence or witnesses linking Lobato to the murder, she became the prime suspect. She always maintained that she had never met Bailey, but the police claimed that she had confessed in prison: She had killed a man who tried to rape her during a drug binge.

Dubious investigations and a false conviction

Lobato was initially convicted of murder in 2002. Two years later, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the conviction due to procedural errors. Nevertheless, she was convicted of manslaughter, mutilation and weapons possession in a second trial in 2006 and sentenced to 13 to 45 years in prison.

It was not until 2017 that the Innocence Project, an organization that campaigns for the wrongfully convicted, was able to bring the case back to court. Evidence showed that Lobato was 214 kilometers away in her hometown of Panaca at the time of the murder. As a result, she was acquitted and released from prison after more than 16 years of legal battles.

A civil trial jury now decided that the Las Vegas police and two retired detectives had falsified evidence in the investigation and had deliberately psychologically incriminated Lobato. The jury therefore awarded her 34 million dollars in damages and 10,000 dollars in punitive damages per investigator.

Life after imprisonment

For Kirstin Lobato, the acquittal is a victory, but the wounds of the past few years remain. "It was a hard fight with many obstacles," said Lobato. "I don't know if the money can make up for the years in prison."

Her future life lies ahead of her, but with no clear idea of how she will move on after her traumatic experiences.