by AP and Alex Hammer at Daily Mail
- Muhammad Aziz, 83, and the late Khalil Islam, spent decades in prison for the crime, after being found guilty for the killing in 1966
- The decision follows a 22-month investigation into the mishandling of proceedings following the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader
- Malcolm X was gunned down as he began a speech in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965
- The two men were then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson
- Aziz was released in 1985 – Islam was released two years later, and died in 2009
- The judgment will see the pair and their families awarded a collective $36million
New York is settling lawsuits filed on behalf of two of the three men convicted of assassinating renowned civil rights leader Malcolm X, after their exoneration last year.
The judgment will see 83-year-old Muhammad Aziz and the family of the late Khalil Islam, who died in 2018, awarded a collective $36million, after the pair both spent decades in prison for their supposed part in the 1965 killing.
Following a nearly two-year investigation by their lawyers and the Manhattan DA, both men were exonerated in November – after a series of doubts by historians and legal experts over inconsistencies in the case saw their conviction overturned.
To make good on the monumental slight, New York officials have now agreed to pay $26 million for the wrongful convictions, with the state set to fork over an additional $10 million.
The decision to make good on the wrongful convictions comes after a 22-month investigation into allegations that prosecutors, the FBI, and New York Police withheld crucial evidence in the case that would have acquitted the pair.
Both men maintained their innocence for the entirety of their incarcerations – which…
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