Kwame Ajamu was just 17 when he was convicted of murder in the killing\u00a0of\u00a0a Cleveland money-order salesman. On Tuesday, Ajamu, now 57 and out on parole since 2003, wept after a judge\u00a0cleared all charges against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so happy today that this battle had come to an end,\u201d\u00a0Ajamu said, according to Reuters. Cuyahoga County Judge Pamela Barker stepped down from her bench to give Ajamu a hug, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
The case against Amaju, formerly known as Ronnie Bridgeman, began to fall apart after a key witness recanted his testimony decades after the conviction.<\/p>\n
In 1975, two people had attacked Harold Franks with acid, and one of the people shot him. A third person drove a getaway car. A 12-year-old boy,\u00a0Eddie Vernon, served as the state\u2019s main witness\u00a0in the case, and a jury convicted Bridgeman (as he was known at the time), along with his brother\u00a0Wiley Bridgeman, then 20, and Ricky Jackson, 19.<\/p>\n
The three were sentenced to death, but their sentences were later commuted. Ajamu was released on parole in 2003 after serving 27 years.<\/p>\n
A 2011\u00a0magazine story\u00a0delving into what happened on that day in 1975 prompted a new look at the case. Ohio Innocence Project lawyers came to represent the defendants.<\/p>\n
Last month, Vernon recanted his testimony, saying he was just a boy who wanted to help police and that he didn\u2019t actually see the crime. Instead, he revealed, he was on a bus. In the 1970s, Vernon said, he had provided the names and authorities fed him the\u00a0other details.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking, \u2018I\u2019m doing the right thing,\u2019 \u201d Vernon testified last month. \u201cI told the officer, \u2018I know who did it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
In November, a judge freed Jackson, who cried out, \u201cI can\u2019t believe this is over,\u201d the Plain Dealer reported. Jackson served 39 years in prison, the longest sentence served by any defendant\u00a0who has been exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0washingtonpost.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kwame Ajamu was just 17 when he was convicted of murder in the killing\u00a0of\u00a0a Cleveland money-order salesman. On Tuesday, Ajamu, now 57 and out on parole since 2003, wept after a judge\u00a0cleared all charges against him. \u201cI\u2019m so happy today that this battle had come to an end,\u201d\u00a0Ajamu said, according to Reuters. Cuyahoga County Judge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":72999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[38,14],"yoast_head":"\n