Innocence Blog

New Jersey man to be released after nearly two decades in prison

Posted: May 15, 2007

This morning, a New Jersey judge overturned the conviction of Byron Halsey, who was wrongfully convicted in 1988 of the brutal murders of two children. Halsey was released at 3 p.m. and he told a crowd of family and friends that he was thankful to be free. "I wasn't going to let anyone take my life from me," he told reporters. He said he kept his hopes high for release during long years in prison because his grandmother told him to "keep fighting."

DNA testing indicates that another man committed the sexual assault and murder of a 7-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy in Plainfield, NJ, and prosecutors joined the Innocence Project in filing a motion to overturn the conviction. Judge Stuart Peim granted the motion at a short hearing this morning.Read the Innocence Project press release on today's hearing.


News coverage of the hearing:

VIDEO: CBS 2 New York: DNA evidence exonerates man wrongfully convicted of child murder

NJ Star Ledger: DNA acquits man convicted of killing two children

MSNBC (via Associated Press): DNA test frees man convicted of 2 child slayings