Trenton Bureau Johnell McCoy served nearly two years in prison and in a halfway house before a New Jersey appeals court threw out his convictions, citing errors made by a judge and a prosecutor who "embellished" testimony during his trial. "I fought for my life, to come home to my family, to come home to my kids," McCoy, 42, said in a recent interview. "It was a whole nightmare.” The lengthy appeal wasn't the only nightmare McCoy faced in New Jersey's criminal justice system. As the appeal slogged through the court system, the coronavirus swept through state prisons. McCoy and his lawyers asked courts and corrections officials about a dozen times to release him. They cited three health conditions that make McCoy especially vulnerable to COVID-19.