*(CNN) — Darien Harris, who was wrongfully convicted of homicide on the testimony of a blind witness walked out of the Prepare dinner County Jail this week as a free man.
Harris, now 30, had served 12-and-a-half years of his 76-year sentence earlier than prosecutors determined to not transfer ahead with their case and dropped the fees in opposition to him on Tuesday, his lawyer, Lauren Myerscough-Mueller, mentioned at a information convention.
In April 2014, Harris was convicted of homicide within the June 2011 deadly taking pictures of Rondell Moore and the tried homicide of mechanic Quincy Woulard at a Chicago fuel station, in line with his lawyer and a courtroom doc. He was 18 and every week away from graduating highschool on the time of his arrest, his lawyer mentioned.
Myerscough-Mueller, who’s with the Exoneration Undertaking and joined the crew representing Harris in June 2020, mentioned Harris’ earlier lawyer shared new info with the county’s Conviction Integrity Unit in July 2018 – together with the important revelation that the prosecution’s star witness within the case was legally blind.
That witness had identified Harris from a lineup a couple of days after the taking pictures.
The Conviction Integrity Unit responded to the knowledge the next October, saying after an intensive overview of the supplies supplied by Harris’ attorneys, they’d not discovered clear and convincing proof that Harris was in all probability harmless, Myerscough-Mueller mentioned.
She added the CIU supplied “no actual clarification of what their investigation entailed, what their reasoning was or something like that. They simply mentioned they investigated it, that their overview was closed, mainly, it didn’t warrant motion.”
In February 2022, Harris’ attorneys filed a post-conviction petition, laying out the proof and the constitutional violations earlier than a choose, Myerscough-Mueller informed CNN. She didn’t element what these violations have been.
The petition moved by the justice system till December 5, when a choose vacated Harris’ conviction and ordered a brand new trial.
However on Tuesday, the Prepare dinner County State’s Legal professional’s Workplace informed CNN “upon additional overview of the totality of the proof,” they’d determined to not retry Harris, who had been transferred to the Prepare dinner County Jail pending trial.
“We stay dedicated to the work of justice within the pursuit of protected and wholesome communities,” the workplace mentioned.
Harris’ mom, Nakesha Harris, expressed pleasure that her son was lastly coming residence throughout Tuesday’s information convention.
“I really feel like I’m dreaming; it doesn’t really feel actual,” she mentioned. “That is one of the best Christmas reward ever.”
Harris is the fourth man to be exonerated in Prepare dinner County this month.
Cousins James Soto and David Ayala, who have been wrongfully convicted within the 1981 homicide of two Chicago youngsters, have been freed on December 14 after spending 42 years behind bars. Brian Beals walked out of jail on December 12 after being wrongfully convicted for a 6-year-old boy’s homicide in 1988.
Following criticism over the time it was taking to analyze wrongful convictions, Prepare dinner County’s Conviction Integrity Unit was renamed the Conviction Evaluate Unit this month, the Chicago Crusader reported.
State’s Legal professional Kim Foxx mentioned the rebranding “represents a shift in our strategy towards rectifying the wrongs of the previous, making certain equity in our justice system, and incorporating group voices in our selections.”
One other current exoneration case includes an Oklahoma man who spent 48 years in jail over a wrongful homicide conviction, in line with the Nationwide Registry of Exonerations. Glynn Simmons is the longest-serving inmate within the nation to be exonerated, the registry mentioned.
As of December 13, 19 people who spent at the least 25 years in jail previous to exoneration have been launched this 12 months, in line with the registry.
Chatting with reporters exterior the jail Tuesday night, Harris mentioned: “I lastly made it. Twelve and a half years, I made it.”
“I missed a few of my finest years,” he added. “However man, I’m finna reside some good years now.”
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