Witness Recants, Freeing Ohio Man After 39 Years

ABC News ^ | Nov 19, 2014 | AP

[Bettyprob]

A man who spent nearly four decades in prison after being convicted of murder is expected to be freed Friday after a witness confessed he lied as a boy when he told jurors he saw the deadly attack.

Ricky Jackson had been seeking a new trial and sobbed loudly with his face in his hands as prosecutors dismissed his case Tuesday, The Plain Dealer reported.

"I can't believe this is over," Jackson, 57, said, thanking his supporters and his attorneys from the Ohio Innocence Project.

[Blood of Tyrants]

39 years in prison on a lie.

[PLMerite]

“39 years in prison on a lie.”

Just when I think I’ve got real problems.

[the OlLine Rebel]

What was that about kids always should be believed? In court?

[massgopguy]

He said he saw the real killer on TV. Some guy named Cosby.

[RatRipper]

The lie basically killed a man. Whomever told it should be subject to the death penalty. Pathetic.

[MeganC]

What’s holding up the release of the other two men?

[Catsrus]

I think he can sue the state for wrongful imprisonment. He deserves it for all the years of his life wasted.

[Repeal 16-17]

The man who lied on the stand should get 39 years in prison, unless he was coerced to lie.

[Repeal 16-17]

I think he can sue the state for wrongful imprisonment.

He shouldn't need to do so. Anyone imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit should be given a million dollars for each year imprisoned.

[Tax-chick]

... witness Eddie Vernon recanted. Vernon said he had been fed details of the crime by police and kept quiet about his lies because investigators had threatened to imprison his parents. Vernon was 12.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Read the article.

This is more than a lying kid. It is corruption of the authorities coercing him into giving a story.

THEY should be jailed, those that are living.

[GOYAKLA]

How many years for a grubering POTUS?
How many for Jonathan Gruber for grubering?
How many for Nancy Pelosi for grubering?
How many for Harry Reid for grubering?
Etc,etc,etc, ad nauseam................

[Hot Tabasco]

39 years in prison on a lie.

I don't know if there will ever be any compensation for his false imprisonment but if not, at the age of 57 and having spent my entire adult life in prison, I'd kill the SOB and go back to the only life I've ever known....prison.

Once released, what kind of a life does this guy have left for him???????

[Graybeard58]

States set limits, by statute and it’s a whole lot less than $1,000,000 per year.

[cherry]

why are we to believe this guy now?....if he lied before,so he says, he could be lying now....

besides, I never thought eye witness alone could convict somebody, especially a 12 yro....

was there any physical evidence?....blood splatter?...fingerprints?....

did not the defense team quiz this boy up and down and sideways?.....

not guilty does not always mean innocent...

[Jeff Chandler]

"Never mind."

[Repeal 16-17]

Vernon said he had been fed details of the crime by police and kept quiet about his lies because investigators had threatened to imprison his parents.

Then those who threatened the kid should be imprisoned for 39 years.

[SeaHawkFan]

Can’t trust cops or prosecutors. This kind of corruption is why I would insist on DNA evidence before I’d send anyone to death row.

[terycarl]

This kind of corruption is why I would insist on DNA evidence before I’d send anyone to death row.

in the vast majority of cases, there would be no DNA evidence from the perp.