LA to pay $8 million to man who spent 12 years in prison for armed robberies he didn’t

Ruben Martinez Jr., right, and his wife, Maria, left, talk to reporters at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles, on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019. The city of Los Angeles will pay $8 million to a Martinez Jr., who spent 12 years in prison for a series of armed robberies he didn’t commit. (AP Photo/Brian Melley, File)

LOS ANGELES — The city of Los Angeles will pay $8 million to a man who spent 12 years in prison for a series of armed robberies he didn’t commit, his lawyers announced.

The criminal case against Ruben Martinez Jr. was thrown out in 2019 after prosecutors agreed he had been wrongly convicted. Investigators tracked down alibi witnesses who said Martinez was at work when some of the crimes were committed between 2005 and 2007.

The settlement “recognizes not only the anguish Mr. Martinez and his family experienced throughout his wrongful imprisonment, but also the egregious police misconduct and missteps that came to light through discovery arising from the civil lawsuit,” his attorney, Nick Brustin, said in a statement.