Ionia county man freed after 26 years in prison, sues.

David Gavitt in 1985 was accused of setting his Ionia County home on fire with his wife, Angie, and daughters, Katrina, 3, and Tracy, 11 months, inside the house.

The Michigan Innocence Clinic took on his case and, in 2012, persuaded Ionia County Prosecutor Ron Schafer to present a motion to set him free.

Researchers with the Innocence Clinic touted independent arson testing that showed there was no way to prove definitively that gasoline was on carpet samples taken from Gavitt's home in 1985.

Article here. 

Since he's been released, Gavitt has decided to sue several people, including  Ionia County, Ionia City, state fire marshal investigators and Ionia County prosecutors.

Former inmate gets law degree after settling wrongful conviction suit for $3.4 million

A New York man who was convicted of killing his parents in 1990 achieved two milestones this year: He obtained a nearly $3.4 million settlement in a suit alleging wrongful conviction, and he graduated from law school.

Article here. 

Martin Tankleff will take the bar exam in August and the next month he will become executive director of a group that works to free wrongfully convicted inmates.

“I look forward to being able to work with people who have been wrongfully convicted,” Tankleff said, according to the New York Post account. “I think I understand the system better than anyone else, any lawyer, any judge.”