Tag Archives: commit

Sports

Rob Gronkowski ‘not ready to commit’ to decision on football future yet

Leave a comment

Tom Brady’s unretiring led to the presumption that the quarterback’s BFF, Rob Gronkowski, would likewise return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So far, Gronk isn’t ready to declare his intentions — not yet, at least.

The 32-year-old told TMZ this week he avoided playing catch at a recent charity event so he wouldn’t have the urge to return preemptively.

“I knew if I started catching some passes that my head would have started turning, like, ‘Oh, crap, I got to get back out on the field,'” Gronk said. “And, right now, I’m not ready to get back out on that field. I’m not ready to commit to the game of football right now.”

The tight end’s comments mesh with what he said in January after the Bucs’ season ended. Gronk plans to give it time before determining whether he’ll return or retire.

Brady coming back surely changed the calculus for Gronk somewhat, but the TE is still working through his own decision. Though he’s a free agent, the Bucs have said they plan to keep the door open for Gronk’s potential return — and the TE has said multiple times he doesn’t plan to catch passes from anyone but TB12.

When might a decision come down?

Perhaps after he throws his “Gronk Beach” party, which is scheduled to take place during the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas on April 29.

After his rager is in the rearview, then Gronk might decide his football future.

Read original article here

Sports

Chris Ballard won’t commit to Carson Wentz remaining in Indianapolis

Leave a comment

Getty Images

The Colts don’t have a first-round pick this year because they traded it to the Eagles for Carson Wentz. But they may be ready to cut their losses.

Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said today that while he thought he was making the right move when he acquired Wentz, he can’t commit to Wentz remaining in Indianapolis.

“At the time, we felt it was the right decision,” Ballard said. “I’m not going to make a comment on who is going to be here next year and who is not.”

Ballard’s comments echo those of Colts head coach Frank Reich, who also declined to give Wentz a vote of confidence for 2022.

Wentz is currently slated to have a cap number of $28.3 million for the 2022 season, but the Colts could save $13.3 million in cap space by cutting him, in which case he would have only a dead cap number of $15 million. The Colts may also explore trading Wentz, although it remains to be seen whether any team would be willing to take him on at this point. A year after the Eagles decided to move on from Wentz, Ballard sounded like the Colts are ready to do so as well.

Read original article here

Sports

Florida State football recruiting: Julian Armella commit signs with FSU

Leave a comment

The prophecy, long foretold from recruiting articles of yore:

From April 6, 2020:

NoleThruandThru: I try not to use hyperbole when I talk about kids because there’s way too much of it in recruiting already, but that’s how highly I think of Armella. I’ve planted my flag and will not move off this hill. Julian Armella is the most important recruit that FSU needs to land in the last decade.

Today, the Florida State Seminoles, under the leadership of Mike Norvell, have turned prophecy into reality. Offensive line coach Alex Atkins has a new star pupil to mold into a future All-ACC, All-American, and NFL Draft pick.

Julian Armella, son of former Seminole Enzo Armella, has fulfilled his birthright and captured his destiny. Julian will don the garnet and gold, represent the spear on the helmet, and stalk the same sideline his father did when Chief Osceola and Renegade open the most exciting entrance in college football.

Julian Armella, 6’6 and 300 pounds, is currently ranked as the 126th best player in the nation in the 247 Sports composite rankings. He can either play tackle or guard in college, and will be counted on to provide immediate depth and push for a starting role.

Julian Armella has spurned the lure of the SEC and numerous big-name programs nationally.

Julian Armella, blue-chip offensive lineman, Seminole legacy, a prophecy fulfilled.

Read original article here

US

Kevin Strickland: Thousands of people have raised more than $900K for a man who served 43 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit

Leave a comment

Kevin Strickland, 62, was exonerated Tuesday morning after serving decades at Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. Strickland was convicted in 1979 of one count of capital murder and two counts of second-degree murder in a triple homicide. He received a 50-year life sentence without the possibility for parole for a crime that, over the years, he maintained he had not been involved in.
Senior Judge James Welsh dismissed all criminal counts against Strickland. His release makes his confinement the longest wrongful imprisonment in Missouri history and one of the longest in the nation, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.
The Midwest Innocence Project created a GoFundMe account to help Strickland restart his life, since he doesn’t qualify for help from the state of Missouri.

In Missouri, only those exonerated through DNA testing are eligible for a $50 per day of post-conviction confinement, according to the Innocence Project. That was not the case for Strickland.

As of early Thursday afternoon, donations for Strickland had topped $910,000.

The fund was created over the summer with a goal of raising $7,500, which the fund says would amount to approximately $175 dollars for every year Strickland spent wrongfully convicted.

Thirty-six states and Washington, DC, have laws on the books that offer compensation for exonerees, according to the Innocence Project. The federal standard to compensate those who are wrongfully convicted is a minimum of $50,000 per year of incarceration, plus an additional amount for each year spent on death row.

Adjusting to a new world

Strickland said he learned of his release through a breaking news report that interrupted the soap opera he was watching Tuesday.

The first thing he did after his release was visit his mother’s grave.

“To know my mother was underneath that dirt and I hadn’t gotten a chance to visit with her in the last years … I revisited those tears that I did when they told me I was guilty of a crime I didn’t commit,” Strickland told CNN’s Brianna Keilar Wednesday.

His first night out of prison was a restless one, where thoughts of returning to prison, among others, kept him awake, he said Wednesday.

“I’m used to living in a close, confined cell where I know exactly what’s going on in there with me,” he said. “And being home and you hear the creaks of the home settling and the electrical wiring and whatever else … I was kind of afraid. I thought somebody was coming to get me.”

Convicted as a teenager, exonerated as an adult

Four people were shot in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 25, 1978, resulting in three deaths, according to CNN affiliate KSHB. The only survivor of the crime, Cynthia Douglas, who died in 2015, testified in 1978 that Strickland was at the scene of the triple murder.

Douglas sustained a shotgun injury and told police then that Vincent Bell and Kiln Adkins were two of the perpetrators. But she did not identify Strickland, who she knew, as being at the scene until a day later, according to KSHB, after it was suggested to her Strickland’s hair matched Douglas’ description of the shooter. Douglas claimed her initial failure to identify him was due to the use of cognac and marijuana, according to KSHB.

But for the past 30 years, she has been saying that she made a mistake and falsely identified Strickland. According to KSHB, Douglas made efforts to free Strickland through the Midwest Innocence Project.

The two assailants she identified at the scene both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and each ended up serving about 10 years in prison for the crimes, according to Strickland’s attorney, Robert Hoffman.

Read original article here

US

After spending 43 years in prison for a triple murder he says he didn’t commit, a Missouri man is finally free

Leave a comment

Senior Judge James Welsh filed his ruling Tuesday morning to set aside the conviction of 62-year-old Kevin Strickland, who served 43 years at Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri, after he was convicted of one count of capital murder and two counts of second-degree murder in a triple homicide. He received a 50-year life sentence without the possibility for parole for a crime he maintained he wasn’t involved in.

Strickland, from a wheelchair, spoke shortly after he was released from jail Tuesday afternoon and said he’s thankful for his attorneys and everyone who listened to him over the years while he maintained his innocence.

All criminal counts against Strickland were dismissed. His release makes his confinement the longest wrongful imprisonment in Missouri history and one of the longest in the nation, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.

“Still in disbelief,” Strickland said. “I didn’t think this day would come.”

Strickland said he found out the news of his release through a breaking news report that interrupted the soap opera he was watching.

“To say we’re extremely pleased and grateful is an understatement,” Peters Baker said. “This brings justice — finally — to a man who has tragically suffered so, so greatly as a result of this wrongful conviction.”

Strickland testified during a three-day evidentiary hearing earlier this month — which involved eyewitness testimony given under oath — Strickland’s legal team presented evidence and arguments to exonerate him.

Four people were shot in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 25, 1978, resulting in three deaths, according to CNN affiliate KSHB. The only survivor of the crime, Cynthia Douglas, who died in 2015, testified in 1978 Strickland was at the scene of the triple murder.

Douglas survived the shooting after sustaining a shotgun injury and told police Vincent Bell and Kiln Adkins were two of the perpetrators. But she did not identify Strickland, who she knew, at the scene until a day later, according to KSHB, after it was suggested to her Strickland’s hair matched Douglas’ description of the shooter. Douglas claimed her initial failure to identify him was due to the use of cognac and marijuana, according to KSHB.

But over the past 30 years she said she made a mistake and falsely identified Strickland. According to KSHB, Douglas made efforts to free Strickland through the Midwest Innocence Project.

The two assailants Douglas identified at the scene both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and each ended up serving about 10 years in prison for the crimes, according to Strickland’s attorney, Robert Hoffman.

“Most of us have heard the famous quotation that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'” Peters Baker said in an online statement posted in August. “Kevin Strickland stands as our own example of what happens when a system set to be just, just gets it terribly wrong.”

Strickland thanked the judge for reviewing all the “non evidence” against him and he appreciated the judge taking his time to listen and understand what really happened in 1978.

Eventually Strickland said he wants to get involved in speaking and possibly influencing legislation, and added he has ideas on how to keep this from happening to someone else.

In 2020, there were 129 exonerations nationwide. Defendants exonerated last year lost a total of 1,737 years behind bars, an average of 13.4 years per exoneration, according to a report from The National Registry of Exonerations. And 30% of wrongful convictions in the registry’s database can be traced back to mistaken eyewitness identifications.

CNN’s Kay Jones contributed to this report.

Read original article here

Business

Top automakers won’t commit to selling only zero-emission cars by 2040

Leave a comment

The UN climate summit in Glasgow, chaired by the United Kingdom, wanted governments, manufacturers, and investors to promise to “work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets,” according to a declaration published on Wednesday.

The non-binding pledge was promoted by the summit’s organizers as central to efforts to keep carbon emissions in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which seeks to cap the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The United Kingdom, Canada, India and Poland, plus 19 other countries, signed the pledge but the list did not include the world’s biggest car markets: China and the United States. Germany, home to Europe’s biggest car industry, was also not ready to back it.

Germany’s environment minister Jochen Flasbarth accused the UK presidency of adding an “unnecessary barrier” by adding a footnote to the declaration that would also ban synthetic fuels.

“What’s gravely concerning today is that major economies like the US, Germany, China, Japan and manufacturers like VW, Toyota and Hyundai could not even bring themselves to sign a declaration on electric vehicles that promises less than what’s actually required to maintain climate security,” Martin Kaiser, executive director of Greenpeace Germany, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Toyota said in a statement that there wasn’t enough time to put such a wide-ranging policy in place by 2040, particularly in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, which lack “the environment to promote electrification.”

“Because of this, we found it difficult to commit to a joint declaration and did not participate in the signing of it at this time,” the Japanese company said.

Volkswagen, which has invested heavily in electric cars and plans to build six “gigafactories” in Europe by 2030, said it was fully committed to that strategy “as the primary means to achieve zero emission vehicles.”

But, like Toyota, it said the 2040 deadline didn’t account for the differences in pace at which zero-emission vehicles would be adopted around the world. It also said that any accelerated shift to electric vehicles had to be “in line with an energy transition towards 100% renewables.”

“While transformative speed is of the essence, the pace of transformation will still differ from region to region … depending, among others on local political decisions driving EV [electric vehicles] and infrastructure investments,” it said in a statement.

BMW also refused to sign the pledge because of what it called “considerable uncertainty” about how a complete global shift to zero-emission vehicles would be supported, especially across significantly different markets.

The company said it had zero emission technology “ready today” and that models of its Rolls Royce and Mini brands built from the early 2030s onwards would be battery electric vehicles only.

Stuck in the slow lane?

Some carmakers, however, were ready to back the COP initiative.

Ford (F) signed the pledge and said it expected up to 40% of its global vehicle output “to be fully electric by 2030.” General Motors (GM) also backed the declaration.
Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler (DDAIF) signed the COP26 declaration, but added that its own objectives were “even more ambitious.” It said it was preparing for Mercedes to go all electric “by the end of the decade, where market conditions allow.”
Volvo (VOLAF), based in Sweden, signed up, having already announced its intention to only sell fully electric cars by 2030.
Uber (UBER) and Leaseplan also backed the pledge.

Benjamin Stephan, energy and transport campaigner at Greenpeace Germany, told CNN Business it was “not at all surprising” that the country’s main carmakers didn’t sign up to the COP26 pledge, singling out BMW as being reluctant to take a full electric path with its lines, in contrast to Volkswagen’s declared electric car strategy.

But he also criticized the pledge to only sell zero-emission vehicles by 2040 as a “step in the right direction, but way too slow” in order to meet the 1.5 Celsius and net zero targets by 2050.

— CNN’s Amy Cassidy, Mayumi Maruyama, Anna Cooban and Chris Liakos contributed to this story.

Read original article here

World

Julian Assange suffers from autism and would commit suicide if sent to United States

Leave a comment

A lawyer for Julian Assange told a British court Wednesday that the WikiLeaks founder is suffering from an autism disorder that could drive him to suicide were he extradited to the United States to face trial for publishing classified documents.

“This is someone suffering from a mental disorder who would find [extradition] unbearable because of his Asperger’s,” said Edward Fitzgerald, a British barrister representing Assange during the opening day of a two-day hearing on the high-profile case. “And that’s a direct result of what he describes as rumination of his predicament, increasing his anxiety, worsening his condition of imprisonment, that would lead to his attempt of suicide being higher.”

The case before the British appellate court has taken on new urgency for Assange’s defenders in recent weeks, after a Yahoo News story disclosed that the CIA under its then director, Mike Pompeo, in 2017 developed plans to kidnap Assange from the Ecuadorean Embassy — and even discussed options for assassinating him — following WikiLeaks’ publication of documents disclosing details of the agency’s highly sensitive “Vault 7” hacking tools.

Julian Assange greets supporters outside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2017. (Frank Augstein/AP)

In court papers filed with the court and released Wednesday, Assange’s lawyers cited the Yahoo News story as further grounds for the British courts to reject the U.S. government’s request for extradition. “In short, there is a large and cogent body of extraordinary and unprecedented evidence … that the CIA has declared Mr Assange as a ‘hostile’ ‘enemy’ of the USA, one which poses ‘very real threats to our country’, and seeks to ‘revenge’ him with significant harm (beyond the fact of his prosecution),” his lawyers wrote.

In fact, as the Yahoo News story reported, neither the plans to abduct Assange nor the internal talk of assassinating him moved forward after senior lawyers at the Trump White House raised objections to some of Pompeo’s plans. But other aggressive measures targeting Assange and WikiLeaks were undertaken, including undercover surveillance of him inside the embassy and intercepting the communications of his associates. (While spokespersons for the CIA and other U.S. agencies have declined to comment on Yahoo News’ reporting, Pompeo recently told Megyn Kelly’s podcast that “pieces of it are true” but also that the sources who spoke to the news organization should be criminally prosecuted for disclosing classified information.)

Mike Pompeo, then CIA director, in 2017 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, where he called WikiLeaks a “hostile intelligence service.” (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Assange, currently incarcerated in a British prison, is facing a federal indictment accusing him of attempting to help one of his sources, former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, crack the password of a classified computer and of publishing multiple secret documents — including those revealing the names of sensitive sources for the U.S. government — in violation of the World War I-era Espionage Act.

But earlier this year, a British judge, Vanessa Baraitser, rejected a U.S. request to extradite Assange after concluding that he would be at serious risk of suicide if he were sent to the United States and placed in harsh prison conditions that would amount to solitary confinement while waiting to go to trial, and would be at even greater risk were he to be convicted. On Wednesday, a lawyer representing the United States argued to the British High Court that the judge’s ruling should be overturned because the Justice Department has recently provided new “assurances” that Assange would not be subjected to rigorous detention measures or, upon conviction, be sent to the department’s maximum security prison in Florence, Colo.

Instead, the Justice Department has asserted that he would be permitted to serve any prison term in his native Australia.

A poster of Assange at the entrance gate of the High Court in London on Wednesday. (Frank Augstein/AP)

“There is no factual basis for believing that the U.S. will not abide by the assurances made in this case,” said James Lewis, the British lawyer representing the United States.

Lewis, who spoke for most of Wednesday’s hearing, argued that the new assurances lessen the chances that Assange would be at serious risk were he to be placed in pretrial detention in the U.S. or in prison upon conviction. He also argued that Baraitser depended too heavily on just one expert opinion, that of British psychiatrist Michael Kopelman, in reaching her conclusions, contending it was difficult or “almost impossible” to make predictions about how Assange would react to the terms of his confinement.

The hearing will continue on Thursday, when Assange’s lawyers will have more opportunity to respond to the U.S. government’s arguments.

____

Read more from Yahoo News:

Read original article here

Sports

Notre Dame Hosting Five-Star LSU QB Commit for USC Game

Leave a comment

According to sources, Irish Illustrated and 247Sports have learned that Notre Dame is set to host a five-star quarterback this weekend. Here’s the latest.

Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More five-star quarterback Walker Howard, a class of 2022 recruit committed to LSU, was set to take an unofficial visit to Notre Dame for the Cincinnati game, but an injury that Friday night forced him to miss the matchup between the Fighting Irish and Bearcats in South Bend. We told our subscribers that weekend that the trip was expected to get rescheduled, likely for the USC game, and that is exactly what has occurred.

Notre Dame will host Howard this weekend, which will likely be an official visit, for the matchup with the Trojans. The longtime Tigers commit will be on campus following the news that LSU head coach Ed Orgeron will not return in that role next season.

This is a name Irish Illustrated had been tracking for months when we were told that he had a strong relationship with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees, and it looks like that connection is paying off to at least give the Irish a shot at the 6-1, 195-pounder this weekend.

Howard, who has been committed to the Tigers since June 12, 2020, chose LSU over a ton of top offers across the country. A legacy in Baton Rouge, his father Jamie Howard played quarterback in the early-mid 90’s for LSU and is the third-leading passer in school history and second all-time in career touchdown passes, so it wasn’t too much of a shock when he committed to the in-state program. That said, Notre Dame has always had some optimism that Howard would at least visit South Bend again at some point during his recruitment. He was first on campus back in 2019 for camp and that was an opportunity for him to work with Rees and really get to know him.

Notre Dame already has a quarterback committed this class in Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic four-star signal-caller Steve Angeli. The 6-3, 215-pounder pledged to the Fighting Irish back on March 4. However, Irish Illustrated had always heard some rumblings that Notre Dame could potentially look to add a second quarterback this cycle. For the Irish, Howard has always been the guy that Rees had his eye on. In a perfect world, Notre Dame is able to land both Angeli and Howard and add two quality quarterbacks to the room ahead of the 2022 football season.

When Howard was first set to visit Notre Dame, it was fresh off a game where he totaled over 300 yards and three touchdowns. He then suffered an injury the following week, just a day before he was expected to visit Notre Dame with his father and a few family friends. Look for him to get on campus with his father, both of whom have already been to South Bend before, and for them to give the Fighting Irish their full consideration this weekend.

We’ll see how things play out moving forward, but Notre Dame is looking to make a great impression. The red carpet will surely be laid out and the staff will leave no stone unturned to try and get him to reconsider his pledge to LSU, which won’t be easy. He has been locked in with the Tigers and among the most active recruiters in the class.

Per the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Howard is the No. 23 overall player in the country, No. 1 quarterback nationally and No. 1 prospect in Louisiana from the 2022 class.

Here’s what 247Sports national analyst Gabe Brooks said back in January about Howard and his potential at the next level and beyond.

“Adequate frame with lean build that should add some mass in college. Established a following as an elite camp performer early in high school career before taking over varsity starting duties. Has posted encouraging testing numbers early in career (4.76 40, 4.40 shuttle). Consistent, accurate passer to all levels. Steps into throws and gets great zip on balls to the short-to-intermediate range. Posted stellar production in breakout junior campaign. Threw a lot of reps while also valuing the ball, as evidenced by only one INT per 63 pass attempts (five in 316 throws). Not a true dual-threat but functionally mobile with ability to extend plays outside the pocket. Remains accurate on the move. Squares shoulders and fires even when on the run. Plenty of arm strength but still probably some juice to squeeze out at the top end, which should come with add physical mass/strength. Typically stays on top of the ball but will have one sail a bit every once in a while. Possesses a good QB pedigree. Seems quite polished relative to age and could be a particularly high-floor QB at the next level. Projects to high-major competition with long-term NFL Draft potential.”



Read original article here

Health

Australia is urged to commit to fighting the Covid pandemic in poorer countries

Leave a comment

Experts warn Covid could mutate in a year and render current vaccines useless if developed nations don’t step in – as it’s revealed nineteen countries battling the virus won’t reach the 70 per cent jab rate until after 2030

  • End Covid for All believe action needs to be taken to avoid virus mutating
  • Nineteen low-income countries won’t reach a 70 per cent vax rate by 2030
  • It comes as NSW ended 106 days of lockdown on Monday morning 

By Colin Brinsden For Australian Associated Press

Published: | Updated:










The Morrison government is being urged to commit to further action to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in poor countries before the virus mutates and renders current vaccines ineffective.

The warning came as NSW ended 100 days of lockdown on Monday after reaching a 70 per cent double-dose vaccination rate late last week, while the ACT will end its restrictions on Friday and Victoria later this month.

A new report from the End Covid for all Campaign says two-thirds of 77 epidemiologists in 28 developing countries believe if action is not taken now, it would take less than a year before the virus mutates.

At the current rate, more than 19 low-income countries won’t reach a 70 per cent vaccination rate until after 2030.

At the current rate, more than 19 low-income countries won’t reach a 70 per cent vaccination rate until after 2030

‘The longer we allow developing countries to lag in terms of vaccination rates, the more time we give the virus to mutate and spread,’ campaign spokesman Reverend Tim Costello said.

‘That is why it is vital the Australian government steps up and provides a fair share commitment of an additional $250 million and 20 million vaccine doses to COVAX.’

COVAX is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.

‘The Delta strain, and the havoc it has wreaked across Australia, shows we cannot allow Covid to run rampant and mutate overseas,’ Rev Costello said.

Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson agrees if poor nations are mostly unvaccinated, that’s a problem for everyone, as it means more mutations could be coming.

There is evidence to suggest that Covid could mutate in a year. 

At the same, as rich countries like the US recover, they will start to unwind their policies of super cheap credit – policies that have helped the poor countries stay afloat.

Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson agrees if poor nations are mostly unvaccinated, that’s a problem for everyone, as it means more mutations could be coming

‘So we see a two-track global recovery, with advanced economies continuing to recover and repair through 2022, but the developing world stuck in the doldrums until 2023,’ Mr Richardson said.

Meanwhile, NSW announced 477 new cases on its final lockdown day, but also an additional six deaths – all men aged between 50 and 70 and none fully vaccinated.

Victoria saw a further 1890 infections, slightly smaller than the record 1965 announced on Saturday.

There were also a further five deaths.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews expects the 70 per cent double-dose vaccination rate will be met in his state on October 26 when restrictions will being to ease.

Victoria saw a further 1890 infections, slightly smaller than the record 1965 announced on Saturday.

There were also a further five deaths.

The ACT recorded 30 new cases on Sunday.

Read original article here

US

He spent two decades in prison for church murders he didn’t commit. Newly discovered DNA evidence just helped exonerate him

Leave a comment



CNN
—  

A man who spent two decades in prison for a 1985 double homicide during church bible study has been exonerated, with all charges against him dropped.

Newly discovered DNA evidence from a hair sample shows Dennis A. Perry, 59, “may have been acquitted if that evidence had been available” during his 2003 trial for the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain in Georgia, according to a news release from Glynn County District Attorney Keith Higgins.

Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

Dennis Perry, center, standing beside wife Brenda Perry gets emotional while thanking the team from the Georgia Innocence Project after they worked to get his release after 20 years behind bars.

Perry, formerly of Camden County, Georgia, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences following his arrest in 2000. His subsequent conviction was overturned in July, and Higgins’ office announced Monday that prosecutors will not re-try him.

“It took a long time, but I never gave up,” Perry said in a news release Monday. “I knew that eventually someone else would see the truth, and I’m so grateful to the Georgia Innocence Project and King & Spalding [law firm] for bringing the truth to light. This indictment has been hanging over my head for over 20 years, and it’s such a relief to finally not have to worry about being accused of this awful thing.”

The DNA evidence involves a pair of eyeglasses found at the crime scene in 1985, according to the news release. Investigators found that the glasses had two hairs belonging to the killer, stuck in the hinges.

In February 2020, private investigators working for Perry were able to get a hair sample from a Brantley County woman who is the mother of a man implicated, but not charged, in the 1985 Swain murders, according to the district attorney’s news release. Her hair sample was then examined by the same lab that did the DNA testing on the hair found in the eyeglasses in 2001 and those profiles matched, prompting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to reopen the case in light of the new evidence.

Mitochondrial DNA testing was done using those hair samples prior to Perry’s 2003 trial and excluded him as a possible contributor of the hairs; however, he was convicted using circumstantial evidence at trial, the release said.

On the evening on their murders, the Swains were in bible study at Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Waverly, according to a news release from Georgia Innocence Project.

Before 9 p.m., an attendee left the meeting and found a man inside the church’s vestibule as she was leaving who asked to speak with Harold Swain, 66. She went back inside the prayer meeting to get him and left the church, Higgins’ news release said. Witnesses said they heard a “scuffle” followed by four gunshots.

Thelma, 63, heard the gunshots and ran to the vestibule – that’s when the killer shot her once. By the time the other meeting attendees ran to the back of the church, the killer had left.

The case quickly went cold, Higgins’ release said, but it was reopened by the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in 1998, according to a release from the Georgia Innocence Project.

Within a week, authorities identified Perry as the main suspect based mainly on testimony from an informant who wanted a $25,000 reward and ultimately was paid $12,000 in exchange for testimony – something that was never disclosed to Perry’s attorneys, the release from Georgia Innocence Project said.

Higgins said he consulted with the GBI and the victim’s family, and both agreed with his decision not to prosecute Perry.

“There are times when seeking justice means righting a wrong,” Higgins, who took office Jan. 1, said. “While this case was prosecuted prior to my administration, the new evidence indicates that someone else murdered Harold and Thelma Swain. Mr. Perry is now, and has been since July 2020, a free man. We will continue to examine all the evidence in the case — new and old — as we determine what the next step will be in this investigation.”

Since his release from prison, Perry has been spending time at home with his wife, Brenda, and reconnecting with friends and family, trying to recover and readjust to this new chapter of his life, the news release from Georgia Innocence Project said.

Thirty-six states and Washington, DC, have laws on the books that offer compensation for exonerees, according to the Innocence Project. Georgia isn’t one of them.

The federal standard to compensate those who are wrongfully convicted is a minimum of $50,000 per year of incarceration, plus an additional amount for each year spent on death row. Of the 36 states with compensation laws, nine offer more than $50,000 per year – including Washington, which offers $200,000 per year, according to the Innocence Project.

Late last month, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California introduced the Justice for Exonerees Act, which would amend the federal statute to increase the compensation amount to a minimum of $70,000 per year.

CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Chenelle Terry contributed to this report.

Read original article here