A JUDGE HAS thrown out the 1975 conviction of an Ohio man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he never committed.
Kwame Ajamu, 56, was reduced to tears as the judge read out her ruling, quashing his previous conviction and exonerating him of all charges.
Dismissing the case, the judge said she was “so happy to be involved” in the privilege of saying to him that “justice finally arrived for you after all of these years”.
Ajamu thanked the judge, saying: “Praise God… I am overjoyed.”
“I have climbed this battle 40 years… I have no bitter feelings towards anyone,” said Ajamu, who wept and thanked his attorneys and wife before hugging the judge and the prosecutor.
NBC News reports that Ajamu, formerly known as Ronnie Bridgeman, was originally sentenced to death, but it was vacated because of a paperwork error.
He was the last of three men to be exonerated of the robbery and murder of a Cleveland-area money order salesman. The two other accused, Ajamu’s brother, Wiley Bridgeman, 60, and Ricky Jackson, 57, were released from prison last month.
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