Palo Alto Man to Get Payment for Prison Time

Rick Walker is used to waiting for the things he deserves. He spent 12 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, until a judge ordered him released in June and declared his innocence.

And he thought he was going to have to wait at least another four months for a $428,000 state compensation, when the Legislature appeared to have squashed its approval. But at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, in what Rep. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) described as “a desperation, Hail Mary move,” the disbursement of Walker’s money -- $100 for every day he was wrongly imprisoned -- was approved.

“Finally, something went right,” said Walker, who learned of the approval in a 4 a.m. phone call from his attorney.

Living with his mother in East Palo Alto, working as an auto mechanic, and striving to rebuild a life for himself, Walker had learned last week that his claim was not supposed to be on the docket until lawmakers reconvened in January. His claim for damages was filed under a state law that entitles him to compensation for the time he spent wrongly imprisoned.

Despite his supporters’ efforts to move Walker’s claim forward before lawmakers adjourned Friday night, Sen. Dede Alpert (D-San Diego), who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, refused to amend an appropriations bill to include Walker’s claim.

Walker worried that he would miss out on a promising business opportunity, and a chance to become self-sufficient, if he didn’t receive the payment soon. Moved by Walker’s story, a Palo Alto auto mechanic had offered to sell Walker his business at a below-market price when he retires. But the seller couldn’t wait long, and was going to put the business up for sale if Walker didn’t act quickly.

“In all sincerity, I think I deserve this opportunity,” said Walker as his case seemed to falter late last week. “My mother is living on a fixed income and shouldn’t have to support a 47-year-old man.”

Falsely accused by a drug dealer who struck a plea agreement with prosecutors, Walker was convicted in 1991 for the murder of an ex-girlfriend in Cupertino. He served much of his sentence in Pelican Bay State Prison.

“Rick was watching his back in Pelican Bay when he should have been fixing cars and fishing with his son and saying goodbye to his dying father,” said his attorney Alison Tucher, a family friend and former U.S. Supreme Court clerk who took up his case and won his freedom after all of his appeals had been exhausted.

The state attorney general approved Walker’s compensation claim in August, and even took the rare step of suggesting that he also be compensated for additional time he spent in jail awaiting trial

The Victim’s Compensation and Government Claims Board is scheduled to consider Walker’s claim next week, but that would mean he couldn’t be paid until the next legislative go-around in January.

With the claims board’s blessing, Simitian, who represents Walker’s district, had introduced an amendment to set aside the money for Walker’s claim so he could be paid as soon as the board hears his case.

But Alpert, whose appropriations committee controls the compensation fund, said those who wanted to help Walker’s case move swiftly through the system were overlooking others who might be even more deserving. Claims bills are brought to the Legislature twice a year.

But Simitian persisted in the Legislature’s final hours. He separated Walker’s claim from the rest of the appropriations bill and introduced it as an amendment to an unrelated bill about traffic schools.

There were all sorts of procedural hurdles to clear, to say nothing of the task of convincing a group of tired, grumpy lawmakers that this bill was worthy of their urgent attention.

Simitian worked the Senate to round up enough votes, and then faced near-certain defeat in the Assembly as Republican leaders vowed that their party would not vote for any bills requiring a two-thirds majority, as the Walker bill required, until their lingering concerns about the budget were addressed.

About 2:30 in the morning, two freshmen Republicans broke ranks and added their names to the bill’s supporters. Simitian picked up two more votes by walking the floor, pleading with his colleagues. He was still three votes shy.

But when the vote was called, Simitian watched in wonder as an additional 11 lawmakers joined the cause. The bill passed 73-0.

Walker said he spoke with Simitian, whom he has never met, Saturday afternoon.

Now, he said, he will plan for the grand opening of his auto shop.