SYRACUSE - A woman falsely implicated by state police in a gruesome multiple murder deserves to be compensated for the nearly 2 1/2 years she spent behind bars, but she should honor the victims by sharing some of the award with charity, a judge said Tuesday.

State Court of Claims Judge Nicholas Midey Jr. previously ruled that 73-year-old Shirley Kinge was the victim of malicious prosecution and negligent supervision of a state police investigator who planted phony fingerprint evidence linking her to the Harris family slayings in 1989.

Kinge, whose son Michael was shot to death by troopers when they tried to arrest him for the crime in February 1990, sued the state for $500 million after she was cleared of helping him.

“There's no question, you are a victim. You had certain expectations that state police would not do anything to put you in a position you did not deserve to be in. You are a victim, and for that you will be compensated,” Midey told Kinge as a two-day damages phase of the trial concluded.

“But if you feel vindicated and joyful, I would suggest you temper those feelings and remember the only reason you are receiving compensation is because your son put this entire case in motion through his savage actions,” the judge said.

Midey said Kinge should take part of whatever award she receives and donate it to a charity in the Harris' name.

“You don't have to do that, but it will say a lot about you if you do,” said Midey, who plans to announce the award in a written ruling later.

Kinge, who recently moved to Charlotte, N.C., from Atlanta, was convicted in 1990 of burglary, arson and hindering prosecution.

Authorities contended she helped her son cover up the killings of Warren and Dolores Harris and their two children Shelby, 15, and Marc, 11. The victims were found bound, shot to death and burned in their Dryden home three days before Christmas 1989.

Her conviction was overturned in 1992 after it was discovered state police planted her fingerprint on a gasoline can found at the crime scene. She was freed from prison and allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of forging the Harris' signatures on a stolen credit card.

During an hour of questioning by her lawyer, Kinge described the emotional toll of being wrongly imprisoned and the lasting stigma of being linked to such a heinous crime.

“I'm fearful going out in public. I'm fearful of being recognized. From time to time, people who've heard about the murders approach me and ask me if I'm that person. It's not often, but often enough,” Kinge said.

“When you are constantly being bombarded with people telling you you are something you aren't ... I began to believe perhaps there was something to it,” she said.

Although her case does not involve lost income, Kinge said she was unable to get a job for several years after her release from prison, which added to her depression.

During cross-examination, Kinge testified that her son told her he purchased the credit card from “a blonde kid” on the commons in downtown Ithaca. Kinge said she did not learn about the Harris family slayings until after she used the card.

Although she knew about the murders from widespread media coverage, Kinge said she chose to believe her son when she twice confronted him about where he got the card and he repeated his story and denied any involvement in the murders.

Michael Kinge refused to take the card back, so she burned it, Kinge told the judge.

But Assistant Attorney General Belinda Wagner questioned Kinge aggressively about why she never went to police - at any point - about the stolen credit card or her son's connection to the Harris family.

“You only admitted your guilt when you were caught, isn't that right?” Wagner said.

Instead of being depressed about being wrongfully imprisoned, Wagner asked Kinge if she wasn't maybe feeling guilt because she had used a credit card stolen from a murdered family or because she felt responsible for her son's death because she didn't turn him in to police.

“Those could have been reasons, yes,” Kinge said.

Midey also took a turn questioning the soft-spoken Kinge, who had to be constantly reminded to keep her voice up.

At one point, he asked Kinge how she would characterize someone who knowingly used a credit card that wasn't theirs.

“Would you consider that person as having a good character or bad character?” the judge asked.

“Bad character,” Kinge responded, after a brief hesitation.