(AP) — Attorney General Jon Bruning says the state had no choice but to settle lawsuits filed by two men who were falsely accused of killing a southeast Nebraska couple in 2006.

Bruning on Monday defended the Nebraska State Patrol investigators who were involved in the case, but argued that going to trial would have cost the state more than a settlement. He blamed former Douglas County CSI Director David Kofoed, who served prison time for evidence tampering in the case.

Matthew Livers and Nicholas Sampson were charged in the 2006 slayings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock in Murdock. The men spent months in jail before being cleared of murder charges. They sued the State Patrol, Douglas County and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, saying their constitutional rights were violated.