Two men who served nearly 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of attempted murder have been declared innocent and will be paid for their time behind bars – at a rate of $140 (£112) a day. 

The men were freed in 2020 after a retrial involving a dramatic confession by the actual shooter, a gang member who is serving a life sentence for another murder.

The conclusion of the new trial in Los Angeles means Dupree Glass and Juan Rayford will be entitled to compensation.

Under a new law, the state of California is required to pay them each $140 for every day they spent behind bars, or about $900,000 (£725,000).

Mr Glass and Mr Rayford were 17 and 18 respectively when they were arrested after a 2004 shooting in which two teenagers were injured.

They were both convicted of 11 counts of attempted murder and sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences.

The teens, who had no criminal history, maintained from the start they were not involved in the shooting.

“That trial never should have been brought in the first place,” their defence lawyer Annee Della Donna told The Associated Press.

“There was no evidence tying them to the shooting. Zero.”

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Their convictions relied heavily on the testimony of just two witnesses who later recanted their stories.

During a five-year investigation, defence investigators found multiple other witnesses who said, “Oh no, they weren’t the shooters, they never had a gun,” Ms Della Donna said.

Mr Glass, 36, and Mr Rayford, 37, now work as drivers for Walmart and both are fathers to baby girls.

Mr Rayford is with his high school sweetheart, who waited for him while he was in prison.

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Speaking outside the court, he said: “I thought about this day for so long. I thought about it when I was locked up for 17 years. I thought about it for my last two years being free.

“I waited for this day because, you know, I knew I was innocent of every crime they said I committed.”

Mr Glass added: “I’m not big for words. But today is a wonderful day. For 20 years we’ve been living this nightmare. It’s finally over. We can go on with our lives.”

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