ARTICLE: $1.4 Million Settlement for wrongfully convicted man in Arizona

[az-tears]

Maricopa County to approve $1.4 million settlement for wrongfully convicted man
12:49 PM Mountain Standard Time on Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Associated Press Report


PHOENIX - Maricopa County has agreed to a $1.4 million settlement with a man who was twice wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death.


County supervisors were expected to approve the lump-sum settlement Wednesday, nearly three years after Ray Krone's release from prison, said Krone's attorney, Alan Simpson.


"It's a start in the right direction," said Krone, who spent a decade in prison, including more than two years on death row. "There is starting to be some accountability, some responsibility."


Krone said he plans to use the money to pay back his parents, who mortgaged their home to pay for his defense. He estimates they spent as much as $300,000 on lawyers and experts. Krone said he also owes around $500,000 in attorney's fees.


Krone still has a lawsuit pending against the city of Phoenix.


The apologies Krone has received are just as important as the money, Simpson said.


"Ray has received apologies from virtually everyone in the county's administration, and that meant a lot to him," Simpson said.


Krone was a postal worker when he was arrested in 1991 in the killing of Kim Ancona, a bartender who worked at a Phoenix lounge where Krone played darts.


He was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to death. But his conviction was overturned in 1994 on procedural grounds. A new trial was ordered and Krone was convicted a second time in 1996.


"It was a rush to judgment," Krone said. "They threw me in jail, then made a case against me."


In sentencing him the second time, the judge in the case said he wasn't sure that Krone was the killer. He spared Krone the death penalty and sentenced him to life imprisonment.


In 2002, new DNA testing proved Krone wasn't the killer. Using an FBI database, DNA from the crime scene was linked to a man already in prison for another crime. A trial for the new suspect is pending.


Krone was freed that year, but his wrongful conviction lawsuit dragged on. When approved, the settlement will be the first monetary compensation Krone has received since leaving prison.


Earlier this year, however, Krone was awarded a new look from the ABC reality show "Extreme Makeover." Once dubbed the "snaggletooth killer" for his crooked smile, Krone flashes a row of straight white teeth now when he smiles.


The 47-year-old lives in Dover Township, Pa. near his family. He's spent the past few years traveling, speaking out against the death penalty and advocating DNA testing.