Washington-Sana
A Missouri court has released African-American Kevin Strickland after serving 43 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
CNN reported that the court decided to overturn the conviction of 62-year-old Strickland, who spent 43 years at the Western Missouri Correctional Center after being convicted of major murder and two counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole. .
Strickland's imprisonment is the longest unlawful prison in Missouri's history and one of the longest unjust imprisonments in the United States, according to the American Exoneration Register.
A report by the registry indicates 129 acquittals nationwide in 2020, and defendants who were acquitted lost 1,737 years behind bars, with an average of 13 years per acquittal.