28-02-2025
Ohio pays millions to 2 wrongfully convicted
(WKBN) – Two men who were convicted and imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit were awarded million-dollar payouts by Ohio.
The Ohio Controlling Board approved the payments for Joel Covender, of Amherst and Michael Buehner, of Lorain.
The State of Ohio pays out $68,808 a year for every year that a person is wrongfully imprisoned.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Covender spent 11 years in prison on a sentence of 15 to 50 years. He was convicted in 1996 of sexually molesting two family members, corroborated by a family member and a healthcare professional who said that she had physical evidence of molestation.
Covender unsuccessfully appealed his conviction, and in 2007, he was paroled after both victims petitioned the parole board for his release and recanted their allegations against him, according to the registry.
New trials were granted in the case involving each victim, and in 2014, Covender was acquitted of the charges.
Covender filed a lawsuit in 2017 asking for compensation for being wrongfully convicted. He will receive more than $1.9 million plus attorney fees.
Buehner spent 20 years in prison for a 2001 murder. He will get $1.8 million plus attorney fees.
Buehner was convicted in 2002 in connection to a fatal shooting in Cleveland. Buehner also appealed his conviction unsuccessfully until an eyewitness witness recanted statements at the original trial. Buehner was acquitted in 2023.
He filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Cleveland in July 2024.
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