A Louisiana man who spent the last three decades behind bars — most of them on death row — is now free.
Sixty-four-year-old Glenn Ford was convicted of murdering a jeweler who was found shot to death behind the counter of his shop in 1983. (Via CBS)
But that conviction was thrown out Monday after prosecutors petitioned the court to release him. According to CNN, a judge ordered he be set free the very next afternoon.
"Do you harbor any resentment?"
"Yeah, because I was locked up almost thirty years for something I didn't do. It's resentment, not feeling bitter." (Via WAFB)
The prosecution cited newly obtained, credible evidence in their petition that proved Ford was neither present nor a participant in the murder. (Via KALB)
It's unclear exactly what the new evidence was, and prosecutors have refused to elaborate, saying the reveal could compromise any future case against the actual killer.
The case against Ford in the 1980s had a lot of flaws, as The Atlantic points out. Ford was originally implicated for the murder by the girlfriend of Jake Robinson, a man who Ford had identified as a suspect during the initial investigation.
Robinson and his brother, Henry, were later charged along with Ford, but the charges against the two brothers were dropped later on.
Some other troubling details — Ford's court-appointed lawyers had no experience in trying a murder case, and he was found guilty by an all-white jury that ended up recommending the death sentence. (Via KNOE)
Ford says it feels good to finally be free, but obviously — he won't get the last 30 years of his life back.
"I can't go back and do anything I should have been doing when I was like 35, 38, 40, stuff like that. My sons, when I left, were babies. Now they're grown men." (Via KTBS)
Ford was the longest-serving death row inmate in Louisiana before he was set free.
