he acted as his own attorney and file the motion to vacate the conviction based on inadequate legal representation. finally, in 20 1920 years after his initial arrest, the first district illinois appellate court vacated his conviction and ordered a new trial, and burrell was finally released on bond but it wasn t until just last month that the prosecution finally dismissed the case, preventing borrell from having to stand trial. again, joining me now, is that man frank borrell and his attorney, david owens, of the exoneration project at the university of chicago law school. gentlemen. thank you both for joining me this evening. evening. frank, let me begin with you because i cannot believe your story. and what has happened and i thank you for joining us tonight to share what your personal journey has been. welcome. how are you doing tonight? i m doing pretty good. thanks for having me. well, i m glad that you re here to tell this story and i want you to tell us about your
many others are there, like you who don t necessarily have the assistance you re talking about, who don t have the teachings of their beloved grandmother to tell them to not give up friend burrell. thank you so much. david owens. thank you for joining today and i m so glad to have met you yeah. thank you. you re thank you so much for watching our coverage continues. historic first criminal trial of donald trump, the jury has been selected. now opening statements began how will eat? decidedly out the case ball cnn for special live coverage opening statements and the trump hush money trial starting monday at nine eastern. if you re 50 or over, you can be taking advantage of everything aarp has to offer right now, join aarp for $12 for one year and you re saying i can membership is free, get instant access to discounts on everyday purchases. i care in prescriptions and tools and tips to help manage your money
wrongfully convicted. i want to introduce you to frank burrell. his story starts in a july night back in 1999 when a drive-by shooting killed a 29 year-old woman in illinois, the other occupant in the car initially told police he did not recognize the shooter, but then later identified frank gorilla as the alleged shooter roe was arrested and charged with murder at his desire for a jury trial, frank received a bench trial instead where his case was put in the hands of a judge. frank had been at work earlier in the evening, then was home with his sick daughter and other family members contradicting witness testimony. but his defense attorney gave no evidence and called no witnesses at trial. in 2002, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years in prison for the next 17 years, burrell fought to clear his name first,