Exonerated Ohio man leaves prison after 39 years
- 10 years ago
57 year old Ricky Jackson, wrongly imprisoned for 39 years, is now a free man....
...exonerated by a Cleveland judge earlier this week.
Jackson was convicted for the 1975 murder of Harold Franks -- along with two others -- after Eddie Vernon, then 12, claimed he saw the attack.
Today, Vernon admits he never actually witnessed the crime.
But Jackson forgives him anyway.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) RICKY JACKSON SAYING:
"Well I really haven't gotten a chance to meet or see him yet. I saw him briefly in the courtroom, but I'm dying to meet him. I'm going to embrace him and hug him...because we've been through a lot together, and we made it, you know, we made it here, we made it."
One person who knows how Jackson feels -- Robert McClendon, who was imprisoned for 18 years for a rape he didn't commit.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT MCCLENDON SAYING:
"You lose everything, but hope and faith, that's what kept me going hope and faith. I was gone f
...exonerated by a Cleveland judge earlier this week.
Jackson was convicted for the 1975 murder of Harold Franks -- along with two others -- after Eddie Vernon, then 12, claimed he saw the attack.
Today, Vernon admits he never actually witnessed the crime.
But Jackson forgives him anyway.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) RICKY JACKSON SAYING:
"Well I really haven't gotten a chance to meet or see him yet. I saw him briefly in the courtroom, but I'm dying to meet him. I'm going to embrace him and hug him...because we've been through a lot together, and we made it, you know, we made it here, we made it."
One person who knows how Jackson feels -- Robert McClendon, who was imprisoned for 18 years for a rape he didn't commit.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT MCCLENDON SAYING:
"You lose everything, but hope and faith, that's what kept me going hope and faith. I was gone f