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November 24, 2014

Ohio Man Freed After 39 Years on Wrongful Conviction; Longest-Held U.S. Prisoner to Be Exonerated 
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An Ohio man has been freed from prison after spending 39 years behind
bars for a crime he didn't commit. Ricky Jackson, a 59-year old
African-American man, had been jailed since 1975 on a murder conviction.
The prosecution's case was based on the testimony of a 13-year old
witness. After a 2011 investigation, the witness recanted his testimony,
saying he had implicated Jackson and two others under police coercion.
The witness, Eddy Vernon, said police had fed him the story and
threatened him with the arrest of his parents if he didn't cooperate. On
Friday, Ricky Jackson was freed after prosecutors dropped the case.

Ricky Jackson: "How does it feel? Extraordinary. Needless to say, you
know, words can't express what I feel right now. I'm just glad to be
out, glad to be a free man."

Reporter: "What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?"

Ricky Jackson: "Wow. I mean, you know, you sit in prison for so long and
you think about this day. But when it actually comes, you don't know
what to do, you just want to do something besides what you've been doing
for 39 years."

Reporter: "When you heard the judge say an hour ago you're a free man,
goodbye, talk about what you were feeling. What was going on that we
couldn't see?"

Ricky Jackson: "I mean, it was like an emotional rollercoaster. It was
just, I mean, the English language doesn't fit what I'm feeling now. I'm
just on an emotional high right now.

With nearly four decades wrongfully behind bars, Jackson is the
longest-held U.S. prisoner to be exonerated. Another defendant who
served slightly less time, Wiley Bridgeman, has also been released.

 

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