A federal appeals court has upheld the $28 million judgment against Gage County, awarded to six people falsely accused of the 1985 rape and murder of a Beatrice woman. The six collectively spent more than 70 years in prison before they were exonerated nearly a decade ago.
The Omaha World-Herald reports on the court’s decision.
In Monday’s decision, the three judges unanimously rejected all of the county’s arguments to erase the monetary damages and order a new civil trial. Judge Bobby Shepherd of El Dorado, Arkansas, noted in his opinion that the court has now rendered four rulings in the case, all in favor of the Beatrice Six.
“We are asked here, in large part, to sweep the pieces off the board — to overturn our prior rulings — in order to vacate the jury’s verdict,” he wrote. “We decline to do so.”
Read the full story in the Omaha World-Herald.