A federal jury in Rochester has awarded $80 million to the estate of Darryl Boyd, one of the so-called “Buffalo Five” who saw his murder conviction overturned after spending nearly three decades in prison.
It is believed to be the largest single wrongful conviction award ever given by a jury in U.S. history.
Boyd was among five teenagers arrested in 1976 in connection with the robbery and murder of William Crawford in his Buffalo home. Boyd, John Walker, and Darryn Gibson were convicted in 1977. One of the five testified against the other four while the fifth defendant, Floyd Martin, was acquitted. Walker was released from prison in 1998, Boyd in 1999, and Gibson in 2008. Gibson died the following year.
On Wednesday in federal court, a jury ruled that the Erie County prosecutor committed misconduct during the trial.
“I see it as a complete vindication for Darryl Boyd, and for John Walker, too, who's litigated a similar case arising out of the same 1977 prosecution,” said Spencer Durland, one of the lead attorneys on Boyd’s legal team. “Darryl really, for decades, kept the faith that if he had the chance to tell his story that he would see a measure of justice.”
In August 2021, State Supreme Court Justice Christopher Burns vacated the convictions of Boyd and Walker, and then dismissed their indictments one month later.
The following year, Boyd and Walker filed a $224 million lawsuit against the City of Buffalo and County of Erie, contending police and prosecutors withheld evidence and coerced a witness into false statements that led to their convictions.
“I always ask myself, 'Man, why was you kidnapped and then framed?'” said Boyd in 2022. “And then after that, unlawfully detained and then after that put through suffer and pain and misery, and then only be returned back to the location where I was kidnapped from to be up under the supervision of the rope. I just want to know what's going on with this.”
Walker, in a companion case, was awarded $28 million.
In an email to BTPM NPR Thursday afternoon, the Erie County Attorney's Office confirmed the county plans to appeal the judgement but will first make several post-trial motions including asking the judge to reduce the award.
Boyd died on February 26 of this year. Durland states he spoke to his client shortly before his passing, and Boyd remained hopeful he’d see justice.
“I think for the family, it's mixed emotions,” Durland said. “It's joy that their son or uncle or father has been vindicated. It’s sadness that he's not here to see it. It’s sadness too at what happened to his life, and what was shown throughout the trial that happened to his life, because of this terrible injustice so many years ago.”
