High Desert 2021 in review: COVID resurgence tops challenges of a roller-coaster year ktvz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ktvz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Courtesy Luke Wirkkala
By Christina Carrega, CNN
John Jerome White was 19 years old when a Georgia judge sentenced him to life plus 40 years in prison for breaking into a 74-year-old woman’s home and raping her. Exonerated after DNA testing years later, he walked free in a state that does not have laws on the books to compensate the wrongfully convicted upon their release from prison.
“I was 48 when I got out. It was rough,” said White, who’s now 61. “If it hadn’t been for my family and the people who donated their time to help me, I just don’t know. … A lot of things were difficult, and the state of Georgia did nothing to help me.”
More than 2,800 have been wrongly convicted in the US Lawmakers and advocates want to make sure they re paid their dues keyt.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from keyt.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The story of an unprecedented acquittal: Beat Check podcast
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Luke Wirkkala , 40, is shown here days after a Deschutes County jury acquitted him of murder and manslaughter in the 2013 death of David Ryder in Bend. It s really the best possible outcome, he said. Anytime you go to trial, as I found out the first (time), is a roll of the dice and it s a scary thing, especially when there s a life sentence hanging over you. Beth Nakamura/Staff
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For many of us, normal life ground to a halt during the pandemic. For Luke Wirkkala, his life is about to start anew.