By Mike Wagner
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Robert McClendon was freed from prison in August after serving 18 years for a rape he did not commit, but he still hasn’t been paid by the state for losing a third of his life.
McClendon, who was paid $18 a month at his prison recreation job, is expected to receive more than $1 million for his wrongful conviction.
During the past 10 months he has had to borrow money from family and friends while he waits for his attorney and the Ohio attorney general’s office to reach a settlement in his compensation case.
“I’ve tried not to base my life on receiving that money, but I have family and obligations like everyone else,” said the 53-year-old Columbus man. “I am surprised it has taken this long.”
State law provides for roughly $45,000 in compensation for each year in prison for exonerated inmates. McClendon served 17 years in a state prison in addition to about a year in jail, so he is entitled to about $765,000 plus lost wages.
But negotiations in McClendon’s case continue to drag as attorneys determine and debate his lost wages, attorneys fees and other costs. His lost wages would be calculated, and potentially adjusted for inflation, after determining how much he made as a city recreation worker before imprisonment.
Michele Berry, a Cincinnati lawyer representing McClendon, said she would have preferred that the state pay McClendon the mandated amount for exonerated inmates while negotiations for additional compensation continued.
“It would have been helpful for him to have that money upfront,” Berry said. “He’s had it rough with some medical expenses, finding a place to live and wanting some of the basic things in life.”
Although the state once handled negotiations in that manner with another exonerated inmate, officials didn’t want to split McClendon’s compensation.
“It’s not the practice of the office to do that; it causes complications that reach beyond this office,” said Ted Hart, spokesman for the attorney general’s office. “Our office is ready to resolve this matter.”
Berry said she hopes that a settlement can be reached in a matter of weeks. The Ohio Court of Claims ultimately will approve McClendon’s total compensation.
McClendon was released after a DNA test of semen on the victim’s underwear proved he was not the man who abducted and raped a 10-year-old Columbus girl in 1990.
He was one of 30 people that The Dispatch highlighted in its “Test of Convictions” series as a prime candidate for DNA testing.
So far, McClendon and Joseph Fears, also of Columbus, have been exonerated after the Dispatch series. Fears, 61, also is negotiating his compensation after a DNA test proved he was innocent in a 1983 rape. He was released in March.
McClendon’s plan for his money isn’t lavish. The father of five and grandfather of six wants to spend $300,000 on a four-bedroom home, its furnishings and a new car. He plans to repay or reward those who have stood by him during and after his wrongful imprisonment. The rest he plans to invest.
The delay in receiving his state compensation has generated additional financial tension between McClendon and at least one friend. John Prater, of Licking County, has filed a civil lawsuit against McClendon, alleging that McClendon has no intention of repaying a series of loans that total $36,250.
Prater said McClendon has refused to sign an agreement promising to repay the money.
“I don’t know if he is going to pay me or not,” Prater said. “I’m not looking for interest, just what I loaned him.”
McClendon said he was advised by his attorney not to sign any paperwork, but that he intends to repay Prater in the same manner the loans were given to him once he receives his state money. McClendon said the total amount of the loans from Prater was closer to $30,000.
“He helped me in a time of need and I will pay him back,” McClendon said.
McClendon hasn’t taken a day-to-day job because he has been bonding with family and has spent a lot of time crusading for other inmates who potentially have been wrongfully convicted. He has also acted as a mentor to Fears since his release.
“The money will help strengthen what I already have,” McClendon said. “I’m not going to blow my money or the second chance I have in life.”
Copyright 2009 The Columbus Dispatch