Willie Earl Green

Willie Earl Green was sent to prison in 1983 for the murder of a woman in a South Los Angeles crack house, but after a change in testimony, authorities released him from prison in March 2008.cite news
first = Jack
last = Leonard
coauthors = Paul Pringle
title = Freed after 25 years, former inmate rejoices
url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-green21mar21,0,3434295.story
format = electronic
work = Los Angeles Times
location = Los Angeles
date = March 21, 2008
accessdate = 2008-03-21
quote = "I was wrongly accused," Green said. "I'm out now, I'm not bitter. I'm happy today." ]

The incriminating witness, Willie Finley, had placed Green at the scene and helped police identify him as the murderer. Mr. Finley altered his recollection, and L.A. County Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus exonerated Green, stopping short of declaring him innocent, but declaring that had the jury known the new version of events, they would have not found him guilty. Susan Breyer, the forewoman of the jury who had originally found him guilty, had come to believe in his innocence and was at the prison when Green was released, stating: "I, they, took 24 years of his life."

While Green had been involved in drugs and petty crimes before imprisonment, he attributes prison to have turned his life around. While in prison he earned an Associate of Arts degree and ran life skills programs for inmates helping them with anger management and parenting skills. While Green was in prison, in 1999, his father died. Green also got married in prison.

Quotes

* "The system that put me in here was the same system that got me out. It's not perfect, but it's the best system in the world."
* "I was wrongly accused. I'm out now, I'm not bitter. I'm happy today."

External links

* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-overturn11mar11,1,2003271.story Judge voids conviction in '83 killing] , LA Times, Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 11, 2008.

References