N. Carolina to pay $7.5M to estate over wrongful conviction

WILSON, N.C. (AP) — Officials say the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and its insurers will pay $7.5 million to the estate of a North Carolina man who was wrongfully convicted of a 1976 murder. Charles Ray Finch died in January at 83. He was freed from a North Carolina prison three years ago after a federal judge overturned his murder conviction for which he spent 43 years in prison. The Wilson Times reported that the parties reached a settlement agreement that was finalized Tuesday. In December 2019, Finch filed a federal lawsuit against Wilson County, its current sheriff, two former deputies and two NCSBI employees.