I agree, he barely deserves a check from we taxpayers, let alone an apology.

He resembled the criminal in question. After a through investigation which takes longer than the 34 minutes that it takes on your favorite courtroom drama, it was determined that he wasn't the criminal.

There was nothing that was done wrongly, no rights were denied

Wait... So he didn't spend 10 days in jail and two months under house arrest?

Where did I say that he didn't?

I said nothing was done wrongly or incorrectly. None of his rights were denied. You don't have the right to never be accused of a crime, to never be a suspect, to never resembling the criminal in question.

He was suspected of a crime. He was eventually exonerated. During the time he was in jail. That is sad, but unavoidable.

If his rights were denied, if he was denied access to the evidence, if he was denied the right to provide evidence supporting his innocence, if the actual person was a black midget 21 year old female, looking nothing like him than yes, he would be deserving of money and an apology.

Are we really suggesting that if the police don't find the real criminal right away then everyone they look into, everyone they arrest be awarded with cash and prizes if their innocence isn't immediately determined?

That is the point. They didn't do anything wrongly, they were just mistaken. In the end he got the money he spent and then some. Exactly how much we don't know. His statement that "it wasn't much more than..." is of course meaningless.

A simple apology sounds reasonable. It sounds nice and polite, but not only did they not do anything against the law, but an apology could open themselves up to further lawsuits because it is considered an admission of guilt.

Jail time, by its very definition, is a denial of rights.

Do I expect the police to never be wrong, or to get the bad guy right away? No, of course not; that's preposterous.

But if I'm placed in a cell because they got the wrong guy, I expect to be compensated in some way.

For instance, many employers will terminate your employment if you are arrested for any reason. There goes the salary I'm getting, and as a result there goes my house and one of my two cars.

I'm not faulting the police at all. Mistakes happen. But when someone makes a mistake, they should try to correct it. Letting him go free is a nice way of correcting the mistake, but has nothing to fix the many problems this man will face as a result of this mistake.

Which is why he should get some sort of compensation.