Formerly wrongfully imprisoned men testify as subcommittee advances enhanced‑compensation and claims bills

The Senate Finance and Appropriations subcommittee heard testimony from Marvin Grimm and Gilbert Merritt — two men who said they were wrongfully convicted after prosecutorial or law‑enforcement misconduct — and advanced both individual claims and a substitute to allow enhanced compensation where intentional misconduct is found.

Grimm, who told the committee he was arrested in 1975 at age 20, described serving decades in prison for a crime he said he did not commit. "I spent 45 years of my life in prison," he told the subcommittee. He said he was exonerated by the Virginia Court of Appeals in July 2024 and released from parole restrictions in recent years. "I was not the only one who suffered from the unlawful incarceration," he said, naming family members who endured stigma and trauma while he was imprisoned.

Sponsor Delegate David Sullivan framed the measures as responses to cases of "intentional conduct that led to a wrongful conviction," saying the substitute crafted with counsel would permit enhanced awards in specific cases while preserving the Commonwealth’s ability to match and to require locality participation. Counsel explained the substitute would retain existing law on execution of waivers and releases, require localities to compensate claimants if the conduct was committed by a locality employee, and allow the governor to withhold state funds from a locality that fails to pay a matching enhanced award.

The subcommittee adopted the substitute for HB 19 14 and then recommended it for reporting to the full committee. Members moved and reported a set of individual claims bills on the record, including measures to compensate Grimm (HB 17 76), Merritt (HB 17 80) and others whose cases were described to the committee.

Gilbert Merritt, who testified after Grimm, described the emotional toll of decades of incarceration and the difficulty of readjusting to life on release. "I left. I had twins. I come home. I'm living with them," he said, adding that years of imprisonment cost him family relationships and opportunities. Committee members repeatedly expressed regret at the cases described and said advancing claims bills is the statutory mechanism to make restitution where wrongful incarceration has been found.

Nut graf: The subcommittee advanced both a statutory substitute to allow enhanced awards in cases of intentional misconduct and several individual claims bills that would provide financial compensation to specific claimants. Sponsors and counsel emphasized the substitute is narrowly focused on cases where intentional misconduct by law‑enforcement or other government actors produced a wrongful conviction.

Supporting details: Counsel described the substitute as leaving existing execution rules for waivers in place, while creating a mechanism that requires localities that employed individuals who committed intentional acts to pay matching compensation when the Commonwealth awards enhanced amounts. Sullivan said the change aims to correct an unintended statutory tie that previously delayed payments until local matching occurred. On the record, senators moved to report the substitute and the claims bills; the committee recorded voice votes and noted noes where they occurred.

Ending: The bills will go to the full Finance and Appropriations committee. Committee members said the hearings serve both as a legislative remedy and as a public record of wrongful‑conviction cases that lawmakers told the subcommittee they hope to prevent in the future.