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Deliberations expected to resume in 2nd Beatrice Six trial

gavel-and-scaleLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Jurors are expected to resume deliberations Friday in the second trial of a lawsuit filed against Gage County by people wrongfully convicted in a 1985 rape and slaying.

Closing arguments were made Thursday and deliberations began. The six people — James Dean, Kathleen Gonzalez, Debra Shelden, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Joseph White and Thomas Winslow — were wrongly convicted of killing Helen Wilson in Beatrice and served a combined 77 years in prison before DNA testing cleared them in 2008. They’ve become known as the Beatrice Six.

The first trial last year ended in a mistrial.

Jurors were asked Thursday to award the six at least half a million dollars for each year they spent in prison — more than $37.5 million total.

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