Ricky Jackson will walk free after spending 39 years of his life in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
After 39 years behind bars for a 1975 murder they didn’t commit, two men were released from prison. Ricky Jackson, 57, and Wiley Bridgeman, 60, were both released at separate court hearings Friday.
Jackson who is longest-held U.S. prisoner to be exonerated was convicted of aggravated murder after the only prosecution witness in his trial came forward and admitted he made up his testimony.
It was a 12-year-old Eddie Vernon who testified that he witnessed the killing of a money-order collector. No other evidence linked the men to crime, but they were sentenced to death. Now 53-year-old Vernon
Jackson’s death sentence was later vacated and the death penalty was declared unconstitutional in Ohio in 1978. Vernon, now 53, recanted his testimony and told authorities he had never actually witnessed the crime and police detectives coerced him into giving false testimony.
Jackson told reporters outside the courthouse, “It’s extraordinary, I’m glad to be out, it has been an emotional roller coaster. The English language doesn’t have the words to express how I’m feeling right now.” “It’s over. I’m coming home. I’m coming home,” Jackson said while crying on the phone with a family member.
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