A Louisiana inmate who has been in solitary confinement for over 40 years was released from prison Tuesday night and transported to a New Orleans hospital because he is dying of advanced liver cancer.
Herman Wallace, 71, was one of three men known as the “Angola 3” convicted of an armed robbery and 1974 murder of a prison guard. A judge overturned his conviction Tuesday and he was immediately transported from the Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel.
KMSSTV reports that the case is extremely controversial because King and his other accomplices, Albert Woodfox and Robert King, claim they were targeted and wrongfully convicted because of their involvement with the Black Panther Party and were just trying to protest for better prison conditions.
King was released from prison in 2001 after being in solitary confinement for 29 years, while the other two men were still fighting for their freedom. Woodfox is still in custody.
"It is Mr. Wallace's hope that this litigation will help ensure that others, including his lifelong friend and fellow Angola 3 member, Albert Woodfox, do not continue to suffer such cruel and unusual confinement even after Mr. Wallace is gone,"said Wallace’s attorneys, ABC reports.