Innocent Man Accused Of Murder Finally Released After 39 Years Behind Bars

You presume when someone goes to jail, that justice has been served. Sadly in some instances however, this is just not the case. We all like to imagine that our judicial systems are flawless, but there are always cracks through which unfortunate people fall.

In this case, that unfortunate person was Ricky Jackson. Convicted of murder back in 1975, Ricky was one of the people for which the judicial system offered the rawest of deals. 39 years later, he’s finally out and speaking about his ordeal.

Listen to Ricky’s story…

1. This is Ricky Jackson. His conviction for murder back in 1975 was based on the testimony of a 12-year-old child

2. The poor man was in jail for a whopping 39 years, for a crime he didn’t commit

3. This is Ricky hearing the news that his conviction had been overturned, with special help from the Ohio Innocence Project

4. Speaking after the verdict, Ricky reflected rather philosophically about his time behind bars

5. The Judge overturned Ricky’s conviction because it turned out the 12-year-old boy had lied during his testimony. But when asked about the child’s (now man’s…) deception, he was full of forgiveness – instead blaming the police

6. Ricky’s story is sadly not a singular case; the National Registry of Exonerations has collected data on nearly 1,500 exonerations since 1989, Ricky served the longest time behind bars. Hear Ricky explain his time in jail in his own words

Truly humbling, Ricky’s words are a testament to humanity’s capacity to forgive. A unique human being in many respects, I’m not sure I myself could be quite as gracious and generous as Ricky. I just hope now that he can go and enjoy the rest of his days in comfort and peace. While Ricky wasn’t sure what he was going to eat as his first meal after leaving prison, this guy enjoyed a burger after being wrongly imprisoned for 36 years.