Connecticut to award $5.9 million to family of wrongfully imprisoned disabled man

Connecticut is set to award $5.9 million to the family of a disabled man who served a quarter century in prison before his murder conviction was overturned. The state claims commissioner issued the wrongful incarceration award in the case of Richard Lapointe after years of legal battles between his lawyers and the state. Lapointe, who had a mental disability, died in 2020 at the age of 74, five years after the state Supreme Supreme Court overturned his conviction in the 1987 killing of his wife's 88-year-old grandmother. Lapointe's lawyer said Friday it is sad he didn't live long enough to see the award, which awaits legislative approval.