A Georgia man, Marquez Powell, was released from prison after 20 years when prosecutors reexamined his case and found insufficient evidence to support his conviction. Powell was convicted of murder in 2005 for the death of his best friend, Shah Walton. However, new DNA evidence revealed that Powell did not participate in the crime.

Case Reexamination

The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit reexamined the case and found that there was not enough evidence to stand by Powell’s conviction. The unit was established in 2019 to investigate claims of false convictions.

Powell’s attorney, Christina Cribbs, stated that Powell was his own best advocate, as he had been trying to prove his innocence for years. The prosecutor’s office decided to use DNA evidence to test a key assumption of the case, which revealed that Powell did not touch the victim’s pockets.

The Georgia Innocence Project represented Powell in his effort to be released. The project’s attorney, Cribbs, wrote in a motion that Powell was not part of any plan and had no knowledge that the actual perpetrator, Jacques Shockley, was going to rob or shoot Walton.

Freedom After 20 Years

Powell was released from prison after a 35-minute court hearing. The victim’s family supported the decision to set him free, with the victim’s sister stating that she was ‘so excited’ about Powell’s release.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.