The innocent men spent 36 years behind bars.
Three American men — Alfred Chestnut, Andrew Stewart and Ransom Watkins — were released from prison on Monday after spending decades in prison for the 1983 murder of 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett in Baltimore.
Following new evidence discovered in prison by Mr. Chestnut, the case was reopened last year. In the new trial, it was found that police had ignored and withheld reports from multiple witnesses identifying another person as the killer, and that trial witnesses failed to identify the three teenagers in photo line-ups.
The other suspect died in 2002, according to the
BBC.
The three men were 16 at the time of their arrest, and are now all in their 50s.
Speaking at the release, Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby said: "I’m sorry. The system failed them. They should have never had to see the inside of a jail cell. We will do everything in our power not only to release them, but to support them as they re-acclimate into society." Mosby further confirmed that police had targeted the three boys in the original investigation.
The case echoes that of the Central Park Five, about five black American teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of a sexual assault, which garnered renewed attention this year after Ava Duvernay's Netflix series When They See Us.
In that case, the individuals spent between 6-13 years in prison and were awarded nearly $45m in compensation upon their release.
