Elvis Brooks was wrongfully convicted in a fatal bar shooting and imprisoned for more than four decades before his conviction was overturned. The courts threw out his murder conviction after a prosecutor admitted to withholding key fingerprint evidence that did not match Brooks and pointed to other suspects, according to prosecutor records uncovered 40 years later.

Brooks is eligible for up to $480,000 in compensation under Louisiana law, which allows exonerees to seek payment after wrongful convictions are overturned. However, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who has held the position for two years, has opposed nearly all compensation claims by wrongfully convicted individuals, including Brooks'. She asserts that 22 of 23 applicants have failed to sufficiently prove their innocence.

Murrill's hard-line stance on compensation claims stands out compared to her peers in other states, according to Jeffrey Gutman, a national expert on compensation funds and professor emeritus at George Washington University Law School. Herbert Larson, an attorney representing exonerees and senior professor at Tulane University Law School, noted that the process, which the law says should take no more than five months, often drags on for years, causing financial and emotional hardship to those who have already endured decades of wrongful imprisonment.

Former Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who hired Murrill as the state's solicitor general, also opposed most compensation claims during his eight-year tenure, rejecting 10 of 12 claims.

Brooks’ case has been described by civil rights attorneys as an egregious example of wrongful conviction. Yet, the state continues to deny compensation, maintaining that Brooks and other exonerees remain guilty and therefore ineligible for state funds.

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