African-American exonerated after 43 years in prison

A 60-year-old African-American was exonerated and released Tuesday, November 23 by a Missouri court after spending 43 years in prison following a miscarriage of justice.

Kevin Strickland, 62, was sentenced in 1979 to life imprisonment by an all-white jury for a triple murder he has always denied having committed.

"

" of a survivor who then retracted, noted Judge James Welsh in his decision.

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In addition, two of the four authors of the murderous raid had formally exonerated him, said the magistrate.

"

", concluded the judge by ordering the "

" of the prisoner.

The Jackson County prosecutor, who had asked for the conviction to be overturned, praised the move.

"

" said Jean Peters Baker in a statement.

Visit his mother's grave and see the ocean

The name of Kevin Strickland has now added to a long list of Americans victims of miscarriages of justice, and is among those who have spent the most time behind bars. According to the “

”, a project carried out by several American universities, the approximately 2,500 people cleared by justice in the last thirty years have spent an average of 13.9 years in prison, with a maximum of 47 years and 2 months.

Obtaining compensation for these lost years was not always easy, the Midwest Innocence Project organization, which carried Kevin Strickland's case, set up a crowdfunding campaign on the internet to help him settle in his new life.

He had recently indicated to the Washington Post wanting, once free, to go to the grave of his mother, who died this summer, and to see, for the first time, the ocean.