He refused.

Mr. Baba-Ali was released from prison after nearly three years, after a court overturned his conviction. That came after a fierce legal battle waged by his lawyer, Peter Wessel, who still represents him, along with a half-dozen other lawyers. The prison years, however, exacted a toll. An inmate shattered his orbital bone with a single punch to the face.

No agency or public official ever apologized — not the district attorney, not the health department, not the city’s corporation counsel. So he sued. “I don’t think anyone wanted to admit how outrageous the conduct had been,” Mr. Wessel said.

Ten weeks ago, the state’s attorney general finally settled Mr. Baba-Ali’s lawsuit, agreeing to pay $1.25 million to him.

Did it feel like redemption? Mr. Baba-Ali shrugged.

“I checked out for many years, stopped talking about it even to my wife, to protect myself emotionally,” he said. “Who would believe a doctor would lie? A prosecutor would hide evidence? I’m not sure a lay person can comprehend what it is to live with justice denied.”

The son of an Algerian diplomat, he had worked as a managing editor of technical books when he went off to prison. He tried to reconstruct that life, but the sands kept running through his fingers. “How do you explain a three-year gap on a résumé?” he said. “You know what will happen if you are honest.”

He became a garage attendant, parking cars. He has worked his way into management, overseeing several garages. He has shed most of his friends. That, he said, is his fault, not theirs. His life is an eggshell with cracks.

Of late he has gone on Facebook. But people can type in his name in Google and see all those old stories. His conviction was overturned; that doesn’t mean the shadow disappears.