$875,000 PROPOSED TO SETTLE SUIT OVER WRONGFUL CONVICTION.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

In 1994, Mark Bravo got his freedom when a judge ordered him released after spending three years in prison for a rape that DNA tests later proved he did not commit.

Now, it appears Bravo is going to get money along with his freedom.

County lawyers have recommended that Bravo receive $875,000 to settle a federal civil rights suit he brought against the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and Sheriff's Department alleging wrongful arrest, prosecution and conviction.

The County Claims Board will consider the matter Monday and make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

Bravo was convicted of raping a female patient at the Metropolitan State Mental Hospital in Norwalk, where he worked as a psychiatric nurse, and sentenced to the maximum term of eight years in prison.

On Jan. 6, 1994, a judge ordered him released from prison after DNA tests on items found at the rape scene showed that none of the stains matched either Bravo or the victim.

County lawyers recommended settling the suit because Sheriff's Department investigators provided incorrect and incomplete information to the District Attorney's office.