Man exonerated of murder nearly 40 years later: I lived knowing one day I d be free
ABCNews When he emerged a free man from Michigan s Kinross Correctional Facility and went directly into eight days of COVID-19 quarantine, Walter Forbes, at age 63, had every reason to be bitter. More than half his life had been spent incarcerated, his dreams of a career in drafting technology had long since been obliterated by the prosecution s star witness, who recanted testimony that put him behind bars for murder.
When the prison door swung open on Nov. 20, Forbes walked out with a trunk full of legal notes and favorite books accumulated during 38 years in a cell. But he said he left with no animosity toward the woman who falsely told the jury that convicted him in 1983 that she saw the then-25-year-old full-time college student and two other men torch an apartment house in Jackson, Michigan, in which an occupant was killed.
(Image: Twitter)
A 63-year-old Michigan man, who has been occupying a jail cell for the past 37 years, is no longer a resident at that prison. According to
The Detroit Free Press, Walter Forbes of Detroit is now a free man after spending almost four decades in jail.
A Black man has been exonerated after nearly 4 decades in prison, after a main witness admitted to lying.
Walter Forbes, now 63, was initially sentenced to life in prison.
Black people are 13% of the U.S. population, but make up half of exonerations, per @exonerationlist. pic.twitter.com/bBuMT44KPE
One night back in 1982, Walter Forbes broke up a fight at a bar. Dennis Hall, a man who was involved in that altercation, came back the next day and shot Forbes for his role in the altercation. Hall ended up perishing in an apartment fire that was allegedly deliberately set on July 12, 1982. Due to his dispute with Hall, Forbes immediately became a suspect in the arson.
Imprisoned nearly 40 years, a Michigan man is freed after a witness recanted her story 1075thegame.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 1075thegame.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Michigan man exonerated of murder nearly 40 years later: I lived knowing one day I d be free
Walter Forbes was convicted on the testimony of a woman who now says she lied.
• 11 min read
Wrongly convicted man exonerated after 4 decades
Walter Forbes, 63, was convicted in 1983 on the false testimony of a witness who recently admitted to her lies.Courtesy of the Forbes family
When he emerged a free man from Michigan s Kinross Correctional Facility and went directly into eight days of COVID-19 quarantine, Walter Forbes, at age 63, had every reason to be bitter. More than half his life had been spent incarcerated, his dreams of a career in drafting technology had long since been obliterated by the prosecution s star witness, who recanted testimony that put him behind bars for murder.
Courtesy of the Forbes family
By BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC News
(NEW YORK) When he emerged a free man from Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility and went directly into eight days of COVID-19 quarantine, Walter Forbes, at age 63, had every reason to be bitter. More than half his life had been spent incarcerated, his dreams of a career in drafting technology had long since been obliterated by the prosecution’s star witness, who recanted testimony that put him behind bars for murder.
When the prison door swung open on Nov. 20, Forbes walked out with a trunk full of legal notes and favorite books accumulated during 38 years in a cell. But he said he left with no animosity toward the woman who falsely told the jury that convicted him in 1983 that she saw the then-25-year-old full-time college student and two other men torch an apartment house in Jackson, Michigan, in which an occupant was killed.