Willie Donald spent 24 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, then walked out of prison in with nothing.

Now, a year after his exoneration, Donald still struggles.

Technology baffles the 48-year-old man, who went to prison in 1992 when the world was vastly different. He struggles to find full-time work and medical benefits due to a lack of experience, and employers incorrectly believe he still has a felony conviction. He has cut grass to get by.

Donald — who was convicted of murdering a 30-year-old Lake County man due to a faulty witness identification — told IndyStar he had to seek out a support group in neighboring Illinois because Indiana lacks services.

"They let you out and think they did you a big favor," Donald told IndyStar. "But once they let you out, there is no medical assistance, no way to really take care of yourself."

Donald is one of 23 people who have been officially exonerated in Indiana, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. They lost their jobs, freedom and family. They maintained their innocence as they lived for years, even decades, in Indiana prisons.

And they are largely on their own when they return to society and try to build a life. But lawmakers are trying to change that.

With bipartisan support, legislators have proposed two different bills that would establish a fund to compensate people for time spent imprisoned if they are exonerated by DNA evidence. The two bills — identical except for the amount of money offered — are a good start, experts say.

But the effort also shows how far Indiana still has to go before it catches up with other states that do far more for those who are wrongfully convicted.

"Indiana is still in the Stone Age," Donald said.

In large part, the bills beg the question: How much is a year of an innocent person's life worth when it is spent behind bars?

​'Their lives have been disrupted'

If the measures pass, Indiana will join the 32 states that have compensation funds to help those who were wrongfully convicted start new lives. Such laws also help inoculate the state against lawsuits, as those seeking compensation give up their right to sue.

The measures already have the backing of both Democrat and Republican lawmakers — even though they haven't, at the outset, agreed on the level of compensation.

Rep. Greg Steurerwald, R-Avon,  authored a bill offering compensation people wrongfully convicted. It was assigned to the Committee on Courts and Criminal Codes, of which Steurerwald is a majority member.

"These are innocent people," Steurerwald said, noting that the fund offers an alternative to a lawsuit. "Their lives have been disrupted and/or destroyed because of wrongful conviction."

Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, who submitted another bill, said he was inspired by an IndyStar series that told the stories of the wrongfully convicted in Indiana. In particular, he noted the story of Keith Cooper, who pleaded to the governor's office for a pardon to erase his armed robbery conviction after the evidence against him fell apart. He served a decade in prison before he struck a deal with prosecutors for his release.

But Cooper is far from alone.

Convicted of a murder she didn't commit, Lana Canen had seven years of her life stolen from her. A fingerprint was the only piece of physical evidence that police said tied Canen to the murder of an elderly Elkhart woman in 2005. It was later determined that the fingerprint wasn't hers, and the detective who examined it misrepresented his credentials in fingerprint analysis.

Darryl Pinkins lost 25 years. He was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault due to a faulty identification before DNA evidence helped clear him.

In one of Indiana's most highly-publicized wrongful conviction cases, former Indiana State Trooper David Camm was behind bars for more than 10 years before he was acquitted in 2013 of killing his wife and two children. DNA evidence played a role in his case when DNA from a sweatshirt from the crime scene pointed to another suspect.

"This is something we need to do," Porter said. "It's difficult if you've been away in prison and all of a sudden you have to push the reset button."

How much money?

Debate will likely focus on the amount of money the state should offer to people who have been exonerated. Porter's bill offers $35,000 per year imprisoned. Steurerwald's offers $25,000.

Both figures are on the low end. Texas, which has one of the most robust compensation laws in the nation, offers $80,000 per year of incarceration. Model legislation from the Innocence Project suggests a starting point of $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, adjusted for inflation, and $100,000 per year on death row.

But in fiscally conservative Indiana, experts say the amount outlined in the two bills might be a realistic starting point.

"If you start too high, you're going to scare them away," said Fran Watson, a law professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis.

In Texas, it took years for lawmakers to pass the $80,000 a year for compensation; the first iteration of the law offered $25,000.

"It took a lot of work to do in Texas," said Rodney Ellis, a former Texas state senator who was the main advocate for the laws in the Texas legislature. "It's a very conservative, ultra-red state."

Could Indiana do more?

Amol Sinha, a state policy advocate for the Innocence Project, the legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, sees hopeful signs in the two Indiana bills. However, the bills deviate from similar legislation across the country in other ways. A key issue, Sinha said, is that states should offer social services along with money to help with job training, medical issues and other aspects of reintegrating into society.

The bill also says the exoneration must be due to DNA. That would leave out most of the 23 people officially exonerated in Indiana, as DNA only played a role in nine of the cases.

Canen, for example, was exonerated due to a fingerprint. Donald's conviction was reversed when the witness identifications were discredited.

DNA has resulted in 349 exonerations since 1989 when the first DNA exoneration occurred, according to the Innocence Project, but Sinha said DNA is just one way to clear someone. Incorrect identifications by witnesses is a major problem in wrongful conviction cases. In about 70 percent of the DNA cases, legal teams have uncovered problems with witness identifications.

"I think that's something lawmakers have hung their hat on," Sinha said of DNA, "but it's not the only way someone can be exonerated."

Sinha also noted that the bills are not retroactive. The bills stipulate that the fund is for people whose convictions are vacated after June 30, 2017. It would not help Canen, Pinkins or Donald.

It could help Keith Cooper if his conviction is vacated in July 2017 or later, but his case brings up another issue with the bill: a conflict of interest.

Both bills tap the attorney general's office, the state's highest prosecutor, as the agency that would oversee the compensation fund. The attorney general would investigate claims and distribute the funds.

Curtis Hill, the state's new attorney general, was the Elkhart County prosecutor when Cooper struck a deal to be released from prison as the evidence against him was discredited. But the deal stipulated that he wouldn't fight the conviction and would keep the criminal record. Hill also was the prosecutor when Canen was wrongfully convicted.

"We advocate for somebody who is relatively conflict free to be the decision maker," Sinha said, adding that Indiana in unique in putting the attorney general in charge of the fund.

A spokesperson for Hill said in a statement that the attorney general is monitoring the legislation. Hill would not face a conflict of interest because it is "his duty and responsibility to represent the State of Indiana," the statement said.

It's unclear if the bill would benefit Cooper if he is pardoned by Gov. Eric Holcomb, rather than a court vacating his conviction. He first appealed to Vice President Mike Pence, who was then the Indiana governor, for a pardon. The Indiana Parole Board recommended the governor wipe away the conviction. A spokeswoman for Holcomb said the governor is evaluating the request.

Sinha, though, sees promise in Indiana's effort to begin helping those who have been wrongfully convicted.

"I'm hopeful this is just the starting point," Sinha said.

Meanwhile, Donald is moving forward the best he can while he adjusts to life outside the walls of prison. He has found part-time work at a group home for people with mental illness.

And for the first time in decades, he was able to enjoy the holidays with his family.

Call IndyStar reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.