LOS ANGELES : 2nd Payment OKd for Pair Exonerated in Murder

The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved a second payment in the multimillion-dollar settlements of two men who served 17 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murdering a deputy sheriff.

But some council members wanted to require Benny Powell, who is wanted on a rape charge in Riverside County, to come in and pick up the check himself. That proposal died on a 6-8 vote after other council members said it might cost the city more in legal fees if Powell’s lawyer contested it in court.

“Why do you want to do that?” Councilman Nate Holden asked. “Let the police officers go out and get this guy.”

Clarence Chance and Powell, who served time for the 1975 slaying of a deputy, settled for $3.5 million apiece after they were cleared of the crime. The two men were released from prison last year after a Superior Court judge found evidence that Los Angeles police officers might have framed the defendants.

In Tuesday’s action, the council approved a $1.1-million payment for Chance, 43, and $1.6 million for Powell, 45. Last March the men received $750,000 apiece.