Glenn Ford, who spent almost three decades on death row for a crime he did not commit, has finally been freed. He walked out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola on Tuesday.
Ford told WAFB that the first thing he planned on doing as a free man was get something to eat. He was also asked if he harbored and resentment and said that he did.
“Yeah, because I was locked up almost 30 years for something I didn't do,” Ford told the station. “It's resentment, not feeling bitter.”
According to CNN, Ford was accused of the murder of jeweler Isadore Rozeman in November 1983. He was sentenced to death row in 1984. New information confirmed that Ford was telling the truth when he said he wasn’t involved.
A judge then ordered him to be released after prosecutors filed a motion for him to be freed.
“Words can't really express it but it's a wonderful day and we've been working on this for decades literally so we hope that it will be the first day for Glenn to start a new life,” Gary Clements, Ford’s attorney, said in a statement.
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“Glenn Ford is living proof of just how flawed our justice system truly is,” Amnesty International USA senior campaigner Thenjiwe Tameika McHarris added. “We are moved that Mr. Ford, an African-American man convicted by an all-white jury, will be able to leave death row a survivor.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Phillip Rozeman, Rozeman’s nephew, is hopeful that the new information will help find Rozeman’s murderer.
As for Ford, he’s happy to restart his life. “It feels real good,” the 64-year-old said.