Man Wrongly Convicted Of Murder Freed After 30 Years

A man wrongly convicted of murder by arson 30 years ago is finally freed. In 1992, Claude Garrett was accused of burning down his own home and killing his fiancée, Lorie Lance. He was convicted of her death and sentenced to life in prison, but there were always doubts about the conviction and Garrett maintained his innocence. And earlier this week, after 30 years in prison, a judge in Tennessee signed an order vacating his conviction and he was released.

At his 1993 trial, prosecutors relied on false testimony and debunked science, arguing that Garrett started the fire at the home where he and Lance were living, resulting in her death. Over the years, multiple experts have disputed aspects of the case and claimed that there was no evidence that the fire was intentional.

Garrett was helped by the Tennessee Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization that investigates claims of innocence. The judge that presided over Garrett’s appeal, Judge Monte Watkins, ruled that Garret’s lawyers “presented clear and convincing evidence showing that no reasonable jury would have convicted Claude Garrett of felony murder in light of the new scientific evidence.”

Source: FOX 17


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