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Sixty-four year-old Donald E. Gates was sentenced to life in prison in 1982 for the Rock Creek Park rape and murder of a 21-year-old Georgetown University student after a D.C. Superior Court jury was told that he had confessed to an informant.

Additionally, jurors were told that a FBI forensic expert had matched a hair found on the victim to Gates, and that he had committed a drunken strong armed robbery on a female in the same area weeks prior.

Gates had long since maintained his innocence. In 2009, he was exonerated by DNA testing after spending 27 years in prison. Now, a jury has ruled in a federal civil rights case that Gates was framed by D.C. police who fabricated all or part of his alleged confession and conspired to withhold evidence that vindicated him.

On Wednesday, jurors deliberated for less than seven hours before returning a verdict that found that detectives in the case had violated Gates’ right to a fair trial by intentionally suppressing warnings about the identity of the real killer, and feeding his name and other details to a “treacherous” informant – who had criminal charges against him dropped in exchange for his testimony.

Attorneys for Gates say the verdict warrants an inquiry into the detectives’ handling of his and other cases, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District has not made clear whether the decision exposes the detectives to criminal investigation for perjury.

“The fact that [detectives] would so brazenly lie under oath as well as fabricate evidence and suppress exculpatory evidence will certainly warrant appropriate investigations,” Gates Attorney Peter Neufeld said.

Neufeld also asserted that not only did police lie in the initial 1982 proceedings, but during this month’s civil rights trial as well.

Jurors faced no legal restraint on how much money they could award Gates in compensation for his wrongful incarceration but prosecutors urged them to “exercise common sense in determining damages that are rationally related.”

On Thursday, lawyers said Gates will be paid $16.65 million for the civil rights case.

He had previously received $1.4 million from the U.S. government under a federal law that grants $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment – making his total award over $18 million. (about $667,000 for each year spent in prison)

“I’m absolutely elated. The only thing I can do is thank the Lord,” Gates said. “I’m hoping the message goes around the country: You can’t violate a black man or black woman’s civil rights, or no American citizen’s civil rights anywhere. That’s what I hope. It feels like the God of the King James Bible is real, and he answered my prayers.”

D.C. police officials have made no comments regarding the award or verdict in the case.