US judge frees 3 innocent men after 36 years of imprisonment

After 36 years of imprisonment, three men who were convicted for shooting a 14-year old teenager were finally proved innocent and released from their life imprisonment. The US judge dismissed all the charges and at the same time apologised to them on behalf of the criminal justice system. 

Convicts proved innocent after 36 years 

The incident took place in 1983 when a 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett was shot while walking down the corridor of the Baltimore middle school and was shot for his Georgetown University Jacket. It was the first-ever killing that took place in the Baltimore School. In an attempt to solve the case, the police accused and arrested three-teenagers from another school and months later, were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. 

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Out of three men, Alfred Chestnut did not give up and fought the battle to prove the innocence of all three of them. This year, in the month of May, Chestnut saw the city prosecutor Marilyn Mosby talking about steps taken to verify claims of wrongful convictions, and he decided to write a letter to the Baltimore state's attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit. He also included the newly discovered evidence which proved that DeWitt Duckett was killed by an actual shooter. The Baltimore prosecutors took the case under immediate consideration, reviewed the case and the witnesses were called for a fresh deposition. 

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On November 25, Alfred Chestnut along with his two inmates Watkins and Stewart testifies, appeared for one last time in the courtroom. After a brief review of the case by Lauren Lipscomb, the Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters announced their innocence and paved the way for a fresh trial. Lipscomb, who is the head of the prosecutor's Conviction Integrity Unit, explained in the courtroom why the three men were declared innocent and concluded with, "Happy Thanksgiving”.  Peters further apologised to all the three men for failing to provide justice to those who never deserved to be in prison in the first place. He said that he apologized on behalf of the criminal justice system. The people in the courtroom applauded and the hearing was adjourned.

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