Thirty years after being arrested and imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, William Dillon on Thursday watched as the Florida Senate gave him a standing ovation after approving $1.35 million to provide “some semblance of justice” for the state’s error.
By a 37-1 vote, the Florida Senate approved a bill that pays Dillon $50,000 a year for the 27 years he spent in a Florida prison for the 1981 murder of James Dvorak in Brevard County. The measure, which had passed the House earlier, now goes to Gov. Rick Scott.
Speaking to reporters following the ruling, Dillon thanked his attorney and others who took up his case without compensation.
“That’s the great thing about this,” Dillon said. “There are people that actually believe in you enough to actually help you.”
Dillon, now 52 and living in North Carolina, was freed from prison in 2008 after the Innocence Project of Florida got involved in his case. DNA testing led to his exoneration.
Scott hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill.
