Now 72, Brown was convicted of the double murder and arson and sentenced to life in prison after a trial in which he testified that Chicago police beat him into a false confession over a suspicious fire in a video store that spread to a neighboring shop and killed two people. In 2022, the city paid out more than $100 million in Chicago police settlements, according to the Department of Law’s portal. Pat Dowell, Johnson’s handpicked Finance chair, oversaw Wednesday’s votes during her first meeting presiding over the powerful committee that vets all settlements from the city, including tens of millions in Chicago police misconduct and other public safety-related lawsuits every year. If finalized, the $10 million in police settlements will be the first under the new City Council and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration. The committee in a unanimous voice vote approved the payout to Arthur Brown, who was exonerated in recent years after initially being found guilty of a 1988 fatal fire on Chicago’s South Side. The award was the largest out of almost $10 million in total settlements the Finance Committee sent to the full council, which will vote on them next week.

A City Council committee advanced a $7.25 million settlement Wednesday for a man who served nearly 30 years in prison for a double murder conviction that was ultimately overturned.

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