Ionia man to receive 1.3 million for wrongful conviction

A sixty-one-year-old Ionia man will receive 1-point-three  million dollars from the state.
    David Gavitt was wrongfully convicted of multiple crimes.
In 1986, David Gavitt was sentenced to life without parole for three counts of felony murder and one count of arson. But the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic stepped in in 20-11. It argued that much of the arson investigation science used against Gavitt at his trial had since been discredited. A court agreed and ordered Gavitt’s release.
    Since then, Gavitt applied for compensation under Michigan’s wrongful imprisonment compensation law. Under the law, exonerees who meet certain criteria are entitled to 50-thousand dollars for every year they spent in prison. The state, under a different Attorney General, previously resisted the request.
    New state Attorney General Dana Nessel has now granted Gavitt’s request after a review of his case.