Governor OKs payment to Brian Banks for time spent in prison on false rape allegation

Story here. Excerpt:

'Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday authorized a nearly $1 million payout to three wrongfully convicted former prisoners, including Brian Banks, a former Poly High football star who was exonerated on a rape conviction three years ago.

Banks will receive $142,200 after spending five years behind bars. He was exonerated after his accuser, Wanetta Gibson, a fellow student, recanted her story.

In 2002, Banks was a 17-year-old football standout at Poly High, attending summer school ahead of his senior year, when he had what he always maintained was a consensual encounter with Gibson.

Gibson later claimed Banks raped her. Facing a 41-year sentence for rape and kidnapping, Banks, who once received a scholarship offer from USC, pleaded no contest in order to receive fewer years behind bars.'