We hear the story of a man who spent 32 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Plus, an FIU student is trying to help her family and others stuck in the war back home in Ukraine. And during Haitian Heritage Month, we're speaking with an award-winning author about the significance of this celebration.
We hear the story of a man who spent 32 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Plus, an FIU student is trying to help her family and others stuck in the war back home in Ukraine. And during Haitian Heritage Month, we're speaking with an award-winning author about the significance of this celebration.
On Wednesday, a judge in Miami vacated the life sentence of Thomas "Jay" Raynard James, a 55-year-old Black man who prosecutors said was wrongfully convicted because of mistaken identity in 1991. As he left a Miami courtroom with his attorneys and family members, James said: "I feel good. Real good." Still wearing his red prison uniform and shackles, James stood behind his mother, Doris Strong, earlier in the day as Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle detailed a 90-page motion her office filed asking for the conviction to be vacated. James, who was 23 when he was convicted, was expected to be released after paperwork was completed Wednesday. Fernandez Rundle said that over the past year members of her office's 'Justice Project' reviewed over 20,000 pages of documents, reinterviewed witnesses, resubmitted fingerprints and retested DNA samples. She said the case has gone through numerous appeals, post-conviction reviews, and reviews by
James learned he was a free man on Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning he walked out of prison. That night, he said, he thought to himself: "The war, the fight, the battle, it's pretty much over."