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Nearly $12 Million Paid to Mentally Disabled Indiana Prisoner Wrongly Convicted of Murder
Loaded on Jan. 15, 2025
by Douglas Ankney
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2025, page 46
Filed under:
Disabled Prisoners,
Prison/Jail Murders,
Settlements,
Wrongful Conviction.
Location:
Indiana.
by Douglas Ankney
On December 8, 2023, the Indiana city of Elkhart agreed to pay former state prisoner Andrew Royer, then 44, nearly $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed over his wrongful murder conviction and subsequent 17 years of unjustified imprisonment.
In October 2023, Royer filed …
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More from this issue:
- Fines and Fees Destroy the Impoverished and Perpetuate Mass Incarceration, by Douglas Ankney
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review, by Kevin Bliss
- Eighth Circuit: Evidentiary Admissibility Is a “Red Herring” At Class Certification of St. Louis Jail Conditions Challenge, by Douglas Ankney
- Hep-C Treatment Needed in Los Angeles County Jails to Save Lives and Money
- Senate Votes to Increase Penalties for BOP Contraband Cellphone Smuggling
- With Eleventh Circuit Okay, Alabama Executes Third Prisoner by Nitrogen Hypoxia
- Washington Prisoners Prep for Firefighting Career After Release
- Pennsylvania Prisoner Released from Solitary After 15 Years
- Suits Filed Over Dehydration Deaths at Two Texas Jails, by Matthew Clarke
- Biden Commutes Sentences of Most Federal Prisoners on Death Row
- Blood in the Water Author Wins Censorship Challenges Against Illinois, New York Prison Systems, by Douglas Ankney
- Video of Autistic Ohio Teen’s Jail Death Undercuts Sheriff’s Report Calling It Suicide
- Six Set Themselves on Fire at Virginia Prison in 2024
- Two-Week Lockdown at BOP Women’s Prison in Minnesota After Nine Overdoses, Two Deaths
- Fifth Circuit Leaves Louisiana Prisoner Waiting for Reinstated Parole, by Douglas Ankney
- Nebraska Pioneers Diversion Program to Help Arrested Veterans Avoid Jail
- Maryland Cancels Debt Owed by 6,715 Parolees
- California Prisoner Awarded Over $1.26 Million in Suit Challenging Withheld Legal Mail Which Resulted in Habeas Loss, by David Reutter
- Ninth Circuit Greenlights Muslim Hawaii Prisoner’s Challenge to Early-Served Ramadan Meals, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Executioners Playing Fast and Furious to Obtain Lethal Drugs
- Details Vague on Spending from San Diego Jail Detainee Welfare Fund
- Lawsuit Over Death or Severe Injury of 29 Houston Jail Detainees Survives Motion to Dismiss, by Matthew Clarke
- Mentally Incompetent Maine Defendants Sent to South Carolina Wellpath Lockup Called “Essentially Prison”
- Muslim New York Prisoner’s Free Exercise of Religion Claim Reinstated, by David Reutter
- Wisconsin DOC Under Fire for Hiring Censured Doctors
- $400,000 Jury Verdict for Medical Neglect Resulting in Amputation of Alabama Prisoner’s Toes
- Minnesota Prisoners Getting Scanned Mail, Kept Waiting 18 Months for Tablets
- Wellpath Declares Bankruptcy
- Fourth Circuit Revives West Virginia Prisoner’s RLUIPA Claim Over Religious Diet with Soy He Can’t Digest
- No Charges in Alabama Prisoner’s Torture, Rape and Murder
- Guard Pleads Guilty to Using Excessive Force at Indiana Jail Sued Nine Times in Two Years
- Pigeonly Flies Into Telecom Turbulence, Declares Bankruptcy
- BOP Prisoners in Alabama Strike to Protest Release Date Confusion
- Tenth Circuit Affirms PTS Driver’s Conviction for Torturous Detainee Transport
- Pennsylvania Jail Guards Accused of Ripping Surgical Pin from Detainee’s Shoulder
- Illinois Sheriff Resigns After Deputy Fatally Shoots 911 Caller
- Arizona DCRR Ordered to Fill Prison Medical Staff Vacancies—Again, by Matthew Clarke
- Four-Month Wait for 40 Percent of South Carolina Jail Detainees Needing Psychiatric Evaluation
- Oregon Supreme Court: Governor Can’t Revoke Commutation After Sentence Expires
- Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Qualified Immunity to Missouri Guards in Transgender Prisoner’s Suit Alleging Retaliation and Unreasonable Search, by Douglas Ankney
- 150 People Sue Over Past Abuse at New York City Juvenile Facilities
- $1.5 Million Settlement Reached for Oregon Prisoner’s Untreated Traumatic Brain Injury
- Former Tacoma Reentry Center Severs Washington DOC Contract
- Fourth Circuit: Baltimore County Prisoners May Qualify as Employees under FLSA, by David Reutter
- Childhood Trauma Incidence Higher Among Those Incarcerated, by Anthony Accurso
- Nearly $12 Million Paid to Mentally Disabled Indiana Prisoner Wrongly Convicted of Murder, by Douglas Ankney
- “Locked In, Priced Out”: Markups and Kickbacks in Prison Commissaries
- With HRDC Amicus Brief, Survivor of Dead Washington Prisoner Wins Public Records Case, by Sam Rutherford
- Former Kentucky Sheriff Indicted for Murdering Judge in Chambers
- Michigan Supreme Court Greenlights Adding Restitution At Resentencing of Former Juveniles Sentenced to LWOP
- Second Rapper Stabbed in Atlanta Jail During Record-Long Trial
- South Dakota DOC Locks Down Third Prison in 2024
- New York City Held in Contempt in Long-Running Rikers Island Class-Action
- Lawsuits by Michigan Prisoner Yield $57,750 in Settlements, Plus Policy Changes
- Top Doc Sacked from Maryland Psych Hospital with “Climate of Chaos”
- Colorado Legislature’s New Jail Oversight Committee Not Weighted in Detainees’ Favor
- 1994 Crime Bill Turns 30: A Legacy of Controversy
- First Circuit Rejects Request by Securus and Pay Tel to Stay FCC Prison Phone Rate Caps
- Georgia Prisoner Accused of Running $3.5 Million “Protection” Racket
- Securus/JPay Video Calling Service Potentially Threatened by New Rate Caps
- GOP Michigan County Commissioner Re-elected— and Headed to Federal Prison
- Push to Digitize Rikers Island Mail Based on Faulty Drug Tests
- “Whoppergate” Embroils Georgia Sheriff
- News in Brief
- Turn Key Health Walks Away From Oklahoma County Jail
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Second Circuit Vacates Above-Guidelines Firearm-Trafficking Sentence Based on Failure to Assist Law Enforcement and Unexplained Reliance on Factors Already Included in Guidelines Range, Sept. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Reverses Convictions, Holding Requirement That Defendant Testify Before Displaying Hand Tattoos Violates Fifth Amendment, Sept. 1, 2026
- Ohio Supreme Court Announces Postconviction DNA-Testing Orders Need Only Identify Statutory Reason to Satisfy R.C. 2953.73(D) “Reasons” Requirement, Sept. 1, 2026
- Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026
- New Jersey Court Rules That Denial of Transgender Prisoner’s Transfer Request Violates Neither Discrimination Law nor Equal Protection Clause, Sept. 1, 2026
- Federal Court Upholds Consultants’ Finding that Oklahoma Is Not Honoring Its Consent Decree to Provide Mental Health Treatment, Sept. 1, 2026
- BOP Denies Providing Substandard Dialysis Treatment Despite Prisoners’ Deaths, Court Filings, Understaffing and Lack of Oversight, Sept. 1, 2026
- New Jersey Supreme Court Orders Plenary Hearing Before Special Adjudicator on Reliability of Fingerprint Evidence, Holding Century of Judicial Acceptance Did Not Satisfy Trial Court’s Gatekeeping Obligation Under N.J.R.E. 702, Aug. 1, 2026
- En Banc Eleventh Circuit Announces All Parents, Including Those Convicted of Child-Sex Offenses, Enjoy Fundamental Right to Live With Their Children, Holding Alabama Residency Prohibition Subject to Strict Scrutiny, Aug. 1, 2026
- Seventh Circuit Announces Courts May Examine Individual Officer’s Subjective Purpose When Assessing Whether Warrantless Administrative Inspection Was Pretextual, Holding Suppression Required Where Trooper’s Sole Motive for Stop Was Criminal Investigati, Aug. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- L.A. County Begins Making Nearly $5 Billion in Payouts to Survivors of Sex Abuse in Juvenile Detention, Sept. 1, 2026. Sexual Assault, Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Settlements, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders.
- Florida DOC Rebuked for Seizing Prisoner’s Excessive Force Settlement to Cover Incarceration Liens, Sept. 1, 2026. Summary Judgment, Settlements, Seizure of Prisoner Funds, Trust Accounts, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights.
- Report Highlights Shortage of Wheelchairs at Michigan Women’s Prison, Sept. 1, 2026. Disabled Prisoners, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Staffing, Deliberate Indifference.
- $500,000 for Mentally Ill Detainee Beaten by Guard at Ohio Jail, Sept. 1, 2026. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Summary Judgment, Settlements, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Monell Liability.
- $3 Million Paid by San Diego County for Diabetic Detainee’s Jail Death; NaphCare Settles Separately for Undisclosed Amount, Sept. 1, 2026. Naphcare, Diabetes, Failure to Treat, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- Michigan DOC Legal Payouts Top $7 Million in FY 2025, Less than One Percent of $2.15 Billion Operating Budget, Sept. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Damages, Settlements.
- $11 Million Paid by Boston to Exonerated Prisoner for 37-Year Wrongful Incarceration, Sept. 1, 2026. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Monell Liability, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence.
- Hawai‘i Pays $600,000 for Prisoner’s Withdrawal Death, Sept. 1, 2026. Medication, Drug/Alcohol Withdrawal, Failure to Treat, Settlements, Medical Neglect/Malpractice.
- Warden Out, Nineteen Guards Administratively Charged in Maryland Prisoner’s Death, Aug. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Prison/Jail Murders, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Failure to Protect (Staff).
- Detroit Pays $5.8 Million to Former State Prisoner Exonerated of Murder After 15 Years, Aug. 1, 2026. Wrongful Conviction, Qualified Immunity, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Eyewitness Identification, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.

