Ohio Court Frees Prisoner after 39 Years of Imprisonment

An Ohio Court of Cliams judge on Thursday gave a judgment that a sum of $1 million will be paid to Ricky Jackson.

Ricky Jackson, the longest-held US prisoner to be cleared of crime, walked out of prison late last year. He spent almost 39 years in prison, but he was always clear about the fact that he was innocent.

Jackson was among the three men who were convicted for a Cleveland murder in 1975. All the three are out of the prison now.

The three Ricky Jackson, Wiley Bridgeman and Bridgeman's brother, Kwame Ajamu were imprisoned for the 1975 murder of Harold Franks, a money order salesman in the Cleveland area, after a 12-year-old boy testified that he saw the attack.

The boy Eddie Vernon, recanted his testimony years later, and told authorities he had never actually witnessed the crime. And there was no evidence proving that Jackson is linked to the killing.

Other witnesses confirmed that the then-teenaged Jackson was on a school bus at the time of the killing. Jackson was sentenced to death but he escaped due to a paperwork error, said sources.

Bridgeman was freed soon after Jackson's release, when the charges were dismissed last November. Although, Bridgeman was freed in 2002, but was again imprisoned for a probation violation, defense attorney said.

Ohio court of claims on Thursday awarded Jackson more than $1 million for his wrongful imprisonment.

As per sources, Jackson was the strongest-serving person in the US history who has got a clear-chit for the allegation made against him.

Jackson, who learnt this news from a journalist said, "Wow, I didn't know that. Wow, wow, wow, that's fantastic, man. I don't even know what to say. This is going to mean so much".