COLUMBUS — A state panel has approved paying more than $1.8 million to an Ohio man who was acquitted of murder charges after spending 18 years in prison.
The state Controlling Board on Monday approved the settlement with Anthony Lemons, of Cleveland.
He was convicted in 1995 of killing Eric Sims mainly on the basis of a witness who claimed he was wearing a pair of Nike sneakers.
But during an appeal it was learned that Cleveland police knew before the trial that Nike did not make the sneakers until after the killing.
His lawyers were not told.
