Floyd Bledsoe, center, after walking out of the Oskaloosa, Kansas, courthouse a free mjch in Decemberafter new evidence showed he was wrongly convicted of murder in Many states, including Kansas, are trying to figure out what people like Bledsoe are owed for the time they spent behind bars. Throughout the trial, he maintained his innocence. But the jury entered the courtroom and declared him guilty. Bledsoe was sentenced to life in prison hos 16 years, but doubts about his involvement how much money can a person make from false conviction the murder lingered. After years of fruitless court challenges, Bledsoe was vindicated in a gut-wrenching twist: InTom Bledsoe confessed to the murder in a suicide note before asphyxiating. The day of his release, Bledsoe recalls, was a mixture of celebration and mourning. Bledsoe found little support as he adjusted to life outside of prison, including from the state that locked him up for more than 15 years. A steady increase in exonerations in recen...