2freaky4church1 said:

Boycott Georgia! I AM TROY DAVIS!

Georgia can kiss my ass.

2elijah said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Boycott Georgia! I AM TROY DAVIS!

Georgia can kiss my ass.

I'm not the least bit surprised this shit went down in Georgia considering their history of zealous prosecution of young black men. But I guess that could be said about EVERY state.

Although I'm pro capital punishment this case was an outrage.

I find it ironic, that while this injustice was happening, Texas put someone who was ACTUALLY guilty of some heinous shit down like the dog that he is. But he got off easy, they shoulda drug his bitch ass behind a truck until his head popped off.

Davis was not the only U.S. inmate put to death Wednesday evening. In Texas, white supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death for the 1998 dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr., one of the most notorious hate crime murders in recent U.S. history.

Ever since I'm a child injustice gets me the most and I'm really sensitive to it to the point where I feel so many mixed emotions that I feel my head is gonna explode. That's another reason I write music is to have a place to go to with these emotions without driving myself nuts.

As for what hapenned to humanity. Humanity been fucked up for decades.

I just can't wrap my mind around cases like this...It's hard to believe in 2011...But then again it's not because even though we grow one babystep at a time, so many damn things remains the same.

SCNDLS said:

2elijah said:

Georgia can kiss my ass.

I'm not the least bit surprised this shit went down in Georgia considering their history of zealous prosecution of young black men. But I guess that could be said about EVERY state.

Although I'm pro capital punishment this case was an outrage.

I find it ironic, that while this injustice was happening, Texas put someone who was ACTUALLY guilty of some heinous shit down like the dog that he is. But he got off easy, they shoulda drug his bitch ass behind a truck until his head popped off.

Davis was not the only U.S. inmate put to death Wednesday evening. In Texas, white supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death for the 1998 dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr., one of the most notorious hate crime murders in recent U.S. history.

I didn't know about the execution of the James Byrd murderer. Interesting indeed. I'm against the death penalty, especially in cases where's there's doubt the suspect is the actual suspect in the case who committed the crime. Regardless, DNA evidence should be allowed in all death penalty cases. Too often the wrong person is executed without hard evidence, and just to know that the real murder may still be out there lurking while the wrong person is executed, brings no justice to any victim.

2elijah said:

SCNDLS said:

I'm not the least bit surprised this shit went down in Georgia considering their history of zealous prosecution of young black men. But I guess that could be said about EVERY state.

Although I'm pro capital punishment this case was an outrage.

I find it ironic, that while this injustice was happening, Texas put someone who was ACTUALLY guilty of some heinous shit down like the dog that he is. But he got off easy, they shoulda drug his bitch ass behind a truck until his head popped off.

Davis was not the only U.S. inmate put to death Wednesday evening. In Texas, white supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death for the 1998 dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr., one of the most notorious hate crime murders in recent U.S. history.

I didn't know about the execution of the James Byrd murderer. Interesting indeed. I'm against the death penalty, especially in cases where's there's doubt the suspect is the actual suspect in the case who committed the crime. Regardless, DNA evidence should be allowed in all death penalty cases. Too often the wrong person is executed without hard evidence, and just to know that the real murder may still be out there lurking while the wrong person is executed, brings no justice to any victim.

I agree completely. But in cases like Byrd's where there's no doubt I have ZERO problem with killing these murderers.

SCNDLS said:

2elijah said:

I didn't know about the execution of the James Byrd murderer. Interesting indeed. I'm against the death penalty, especially in cases where's there's doubt the suspect is the actual suspect in the case who committed the crime. Regardless, DNA evidence should be allowed in all death penalty cases. Too often the wrong person is executed without hard evidence, and just to know that the real murder may still be out there lurking while the wrong person is executed, brings no justice to any victim.

I agree completely. But in cases like Byrd's where there's no doubt I have ZERO problem with killing these murderers.

Well the evidence was written all over that jerk, and there was no doubt he murdered James Byrd, but in cases where there's still doubt, no DNA evidence, eye witnesses later recanting their stories, then the person shouldn't be executed. At least they should allow DNA testing in cases like Troy, but it's all politics if you ask me. Troy could have been anyone's son. Not saying the victim didn't deserve justice, but if the state isn't sure they have the *right suspect, why go ahead and execute the person? Makes no sense.

*'right' edit

[Edited 9/22/11 8:08am]

Dewrede said:

Bfunkthe1 said:

Man this really sickens me.

You have people all over the world, left, right, center etc who tryed to stop this to no avail.

I truly believe "they" are making an example out of this case. All egos, power trips and politics.

I also believe people in this country need to wake up, organize, and push back. And VOTE! Do not stay home come election time. Primary or otherwise.These things matter.If you don't vote, "others" will.

Believe that.

Peace to all involved and all who stood up. There's the hope, there's the strength.

[Edited 9/21/11 20:33pm]

[Edited 9/21/11 20:34pm]

What's voting gonna do ?

Obama supports the death penalty

They need to hold a referendum in order for things to change

[Edited 9/22/11 6:42am]

Voting put's people in power that could've prevented situations like this from happening. Like wise, it puts people in power that allow these type situations to continue. Simple.

My argument is not about the death penalty per se, another discussion another day, it's about righting a very, very possible wrong. Just another example of inequality and injustice in this country.

This whole situation is so sad, I just have no words. RIP Troy Davis, I am glad his family has chosen to continue the fight to clear his name.

paintedlady said:

This whole situation is so sad, I just have no words. RIP Troy Davis, I am glad his family has chosen to continue the fight to clear his name.

2elijah said:

SCNDLS said:

I agree completely. But in cases like Byrd's where there's no doubt I have ZERO problem with killing these murderers.

Well the evidence was written all over that jerk, and there was no doubt he murdered James Byrd, but in cases where there's still doubt, no DNA evidence, eye witnesses later recanting their stories, then the person shouldn't be executed. At least they should allow DNA testing in cases like Troy, but it's all politics if you ask me. Troy could have been anyone's son. Not saying the victim didn't deserve justice, but if the state isn't sure they have the *right suspect, why go ahead and execute the person? Makes no sense.

*'right' edit

[Edited 9/22/11 8:08am]

Absolutely

Not even counting this case, I don't understand how a civilized society can justify death penalty. I don't understand it. This is obviously a very controversial issue, without an objective truth and I don't want to stir anything up here, but I don't get it. Makes me sad.

Thebigpill said:

So, you want the president to step into a death penalty case that he probably knows nothing about

(Remember Henry Louis Gates)

with unenployment at damn near 10%, Iraq is close to having a nuke, and the republicans are doing all

they can to sabotage his presidency.

I don't know if Mr. Davis kill that Police Officer or not, but what I do know this President or any

president for that matter shouldn't get involved in a case when there are more things that needs his attention.

I see what you're saying but Bush stepped in on the Terry Schiavo case, not death penalty, but it was a personal family issue that became a national debate on euthanasia and pro-life. Prez Obama could have granted clemency. Whether attorneys and advocates for Troy considered asking our President...I do not know.

2elijah said:

SCNDLS said:

I agree completely. But in cases like Byrd's where there's no doubt I have ZERO problem with killing these murderers.

Well the evidence was written all over that jerk, and there was no doubt he murdered James Byrd, but in cases where there's still doubt, no DNA evidence, eye witnesses later recanting their stories, then the person shouldn't be executed. At least they should allow DNA testing in cases like Troy, but it's all politics if you ask me. Troy could have been anyone's son. Not saying the victim didn't deserve justice, but if the state isn't sure they have the *right suspect, why go ahead and execute the person? Makes no sense.

*'right' edit

[Edited 9/22/11 8:08am]

Exactly!

A Black Man's Life has never meant anything to the powers that be in Amerikkka. They have never had our "best interests" at heart or the playing field would never ever have the shape or landscape it these present days.

All I "really" want to know is WHY?

WHY ARE WE SO FUCKING HATED BY OTHERS IN THIS COUNTRY?? WHAT DID "WE" DO TO DESERVE IT?? IF ANY OF YOU CAN ANSWER THIS; I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL!!

All we did was be brought here to build one of the richest infrastructures for you, and we endured the most horrific atrocities humanity has ever seen!

I mean....there was an actual WAR in our own land due to the fact "the powers that be" simply wanted to get richer and richer on the blood, sweat and tears the "FREE LABOR" created.

Then when let go to fend for ourselves...were murdered, lynched, raped, denigrated and belittle beyond repair....and THEN....

"THE POWERS THAT BE" required fucking LAWS to regulate their own behaviors towards US......WHY?!!!

SOMEBODY FUCKING TELL ME WHY???!!!!!

^ Bruh....they hate you because they can't BE you!

HotGritz said:

2elijah said:

Well the evidence was written all over that jerk, and there was no doubt he murdered James Byrd, but in cases where there's still doubt, no DNA evidence, eye witnesses later recanting their stories, then the person shouldn't be executed. At least they should allow DNA testing in cases like Troy, but it's all politics if you ask me. Troy could have been anyone's son. Not saying the victim didn't deserve justice, but if the state isn't sure they have the *right suspect, why go ahead and execute the person? Makes no sense.

*'right' edit

[Edited 9/22/11 8:08am]

Exactly!

Politics and ego seems to win and someone has to pay for it with their life for the sake of a Judges/elected official not 'appearing' weak. What harm would it have been for them to give this man a chance to prove his innocence, by seeking DNA testing as a last resort to preventing his execution?

Not surprisingly, Democracynow was the only--ONLY media outlet to do full coverage of the live events leading to the execution.

Fuck Georgia, boycott Georgia.

DexMSR said:

A Black Man's Life has never meant anything to the powers that be in Amerikkka. They have never had our "best interests" at heart or the playing field would never ever have the shape or landscape it these present days.

All I "really" want to know is WHY?

WHY ARE WE SO FUCKING HATED BY OTHERS IN THIS COUNTRY?? WHAT DID "WE" DO TO DESERVE IT?? IF ANY OF YOU CAN ANSWER THIS; I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL!!

All we did was be brought here to build one of the richest infrastructures for you, and we endured the most horrific atrocities humanity has ever seen!

I mean....there was an actual WAR in our own land due to the fact "the powers that be" simply wanted to get richer and richer on the blood, sweat and tears the "FREE LABOR" created.

Then when let go to fend for ourselves...were murdered, lynched, raped, denigrated and belittle beyond repair....and THEN....

"THE POWERS THAT BE" required fucking LAWS to regulate their own behaviors towards US......WHY?!!!

SOMEBODY FUCKING TELL ME WHY???!!!!!

Welcome back, boo.

Oh and PREACH!

[Edited 9/22/11 15:49pm]

I dont understand it either. I understand your frustration.

DexMSR said:

A Black Man's Life has never meant anything to the powers that be in Amerikkka. They have never had our "best interests" at heart or the playing field would never ever have the shape or landscape it these present days.

All I "really" want to know is WHY?

WHY ARE WE SO FUCKING HATED BY OTHERS IN THIS COUNTRY?? WHAT DID "WE" DO TO DESERVE IT?? IF ANY OF YOU CAN ANSWER THIS; I WOULD BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL!!

All we did was be brought here to build one of the richest infrastructures for you, and we endured the most horrific atrocities humanity has ever seen!

I mean....there was an actual WAR in our own land due to the fact "the powers that be" simply wanted to get richer and richer on the blood, sweat and tears the "FREE LABOR" created.

Then when let go to fend for ourselves...were murdered, lynched, raped, denigrated and belittle beyond repair....and THEN....

"THE POWERS THAT BE" required fucking LAWS to regulate their own behaviors towards US......WHY?!!!

SOMEBODY FUCKING TELL ME WHY???!!!!!

Are last-minute Supreme Court stays cruel and unusual punishment?

Troy Davis had already eaten his last meal Wednesday night as 7 p.m.--his scheduled execution time--came and went. A few minutes later, Georgia prison officials announced they would delay his execution so that the U.S. Supreme Court could consider the prisoner's last-minute request for an appeal.

Over the next four hours, Davis' supporters in Georgia celebrated and prayed, hoping that the delay meant Davis would stave off death one more time. Davis was no stranger to 11th-hour appeals: Wednesday was his fourth execution date. He had also faced execution on July 2007, September 2008, and October 2008. Each of these earlier appointments with execution produced additional stays so that his case could come under fresh judicial review.

In September 2008, the Supreme Court granted Davis a stay just an hour and a half before he was set to be put to death. Indeed, Davis reportedly declined to request a special last meal because he believed another 11th-hour repriev...the offing. He ate the same cheeseburger fare as all the other Georgia inmates did.

But shortly after 10 p.m., the Supreme Court announced it had decided not to hear Davis' appeal, and Davis was then strapped to a gurney and put to death at 11:08 pm.

Davis' execution has rallied death penalty opponents who believe that Georgia had executed an innocent man. But another issue raised by Davis' roller-coaster ride through state-mandated life and death over the past 20 years is whether Death Row itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Convicts in less high-profile cases have also experienced the same 11th-hour stays. Last week, Texas Death Row prisoner Duane Buck was granted a Supreme Court execution stay two hours into the six-ho... execution.

Anti-death penalty activists, including the human-rights group Amnesty International, have compared the dramatic and protracted appeals process to "mock executions"--a practice widely recognized as torture. As of 2008, American Death Row prisoners spent an average of 13 years waiting for their executions. In some countries, waits of more than three years are outlawed as inhumane.

The Supreme Court in the past has tried to prevent the last-minute decisions that come after a prisoner has already been scheduled to die. "Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor asked the states to change the time of execution to day time so that when the inevitable last-minute appeals come in the justices are at least at work instead of all over, at home or you know around the world," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told The Lookout. "A lot of states did do that, but it really doesn't solve the problem. Whatever decisions are made before, lawyers are going to file something new the day of the execution--that's their job." This time, the court hasn't explained what took so long.

In past Supreme Court rulings on the issue, Justice Stephen Breyer led the charge--together with now-retired Justice John Paul Stevens--in arguing that the Supreme Court should consider whether Death Row itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Such measures are barred under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

In 1995, Stevens argued that leaving crim... Death Row for long periods of time may be unconstitutional. He cited a comment in a Supreme Court decision from 1890: "When a prisoner sentenced by a court to death is confined in the penitentiary awaiting the execution of the sentence, one of the most horrible feelings to which he can be subjected during that time is the uncertainty during the whole of it." In 1890, the execution waiting period was no more than four weeks.

Stevens also wrote that the court ruled the death penalty legal because the Framers considered it permissible and because it serves as retribution and as a deterrent to crime. Stevens argued that the Framers would never have countenanced decades-long Death Rows in their time, since people were executed promptly after sentencing. Stevens also argued that the longer a prisoner awaits execution, the less likely it is that the sentence will produce a deterrent or retributive effect.

Stevens contended that the lengthy appeals process is necessary, however, since more than 30 percent of death penalty verdicts between 1973 and 2000 were overturned. Stevens argued in a 2009 case that the death penalty should be outlawed altogether in order to resolve the issue of whether the extended appeals of capital cases he saw as constitutionally mandated were nevertheless in violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

Justice Clarence Thomas disagreed. Convicted murderer William Thompson argued that his 30 years on Death Row were cruel and unusual punishment. But Thomas wrote that it was the pri... own fault for appealing his sentence again and again. Thomas also said that the severity of Thompson's crime merited the death penalty. Thompson was convicted of torturing and murdering a woman while trying to extort several hundred dollars from her family.

Death penalty opponents have made the same argument in international courts. Is it cruel to keep a person on Death Row, in perpetual doubt about whether he will live or die? Or is it the prisoner's fault for appealing his sentence in the first place? Most of the decisions have sided with the former argument, reasoning that it's only natural that a condemned prisoner would cling to life by mounting extended and repeated appeals.

In some other countries that still use capital punishment--including Kenya, Malawi and Uganda--a death sentence is commuted to life in prison if execution is delayed by more than three years, according to Reprieve, a London-based anti-death penalty nonprofit. The European Court of Human Rights held in 1989 that forcing a condemned prisoner to endure "the conditions on death row and the anguish and mounting tension of living in the ever-present shadow of death" is inhumane. The UK Privy Council, which is the highest court for former Commonwealth countries, also says long periods on Death Row are inhumane because they add the "additional torture of a long period of alternating hope and despair."

They are psychopaths in suits.

SCNDLS said:

Are last-minute Supreme Court stays cruel and unusual punishment?

Troy Davis had already eaten his last meal Wednesday night as 7 p.m.--his scheduled execution time--came and went. A few minutes later, Georgia prison officials announced they would delay his execution so that the U.S. Supreme Court could consider the prisoner's last-minute request for an appeal.

Over the next four hours, Davis' supporters in Georgia celebrated and prayed, hoping that the delay meant Davis would stave off death one more time. Davis was no stranger to 11th-hour appeals: Wednesday was his fourth execution date. He had also faced execution on July 2007, September 2008, and October 2008. Each of these earlier appointments with execution produced additional stays so that his case could come under fresh judicial review.

In September 2008, the Supreme Court granted Davis a stay just an hour and a half before he was set to be put to death. Indeed, Davis reportedly declined to request a special last meal because he believed another 11th-hour repriev...the offing. He ate the same cheeseburger fare as all the other Georgia inmates did.

But shortly after 10 p.m., the Supreme Court announced it had decided not to hear Davis' appeal, and Davis was then strapped to a gurney and put to death at 11:08 pm.

Davis' execution has rallied death penalty opponents who believe that Georgia had executed an innocent man. But another issue raised by Davis' roller-coaster ride through state-mandated life and death over the past 20 years is whether Death Row itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Convicts in less high-profile cases have also experienced the same 11th-hour stays. Last week, Texas Death Row prisoner Duane Buck was granted a Supreme Court execution stay two hours into the six-ho... execution.

Anti-death penalty activists, including the human-rights group Amnesty International, have compared the dramatic and protracted appeals process to "mock executions"--a practice widely recognized as torture. As of 2008, American Death Row prisoners spent an average of 13 years waiting for their executions. In some countries, waits of more than three years are outlawed as inhumane.

The Supreme Court in the past has tried to prevent the last-minute decisions that come after a prisoner has already been scheduled to die. "Justice [Sandra Day] O'Connor asked the states to change the time of execution to day time so that when the inevitable last-minute appeals come in the justices are at least at work instead of all over, at home or you know around the world," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told The Lookout. "A lot of states did do that, but it really doesn't solve the problem. Whatever decisions are made before, lawyers are going to file something new the day of the execution--that's their job." This time, the court hasn't explained what took so long.

In past Supreme Court rulings on the issue, Justice Stephen Breyer led the charge--together with now-retired Justice John Paul Stevens--in arguing that the Supreme Court should consider whether Death Row itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Such measures are barred under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

In 1995, Stevens argued that leaving crim... Death Row for long periods of time may be unconstitutional. He cited a comment in a Supreme Court decision from 1890: "When a prisoner sentenced by a court to death is confined in the penitentiary awaiting the execution of the sentence, one of the most horrible feelings to which he can be subjected during that time is the uncertainty during the whole of it." In 1890, the execution waiting period was no more than four weeks.

Stevens also wrote that the court ruled the death penalty legal because the Framers considered it permissible and because it serves as retribution and as a deterrent to crime. Stevens argued that the Framers would never have countenanced decades-long Death Rows in their time, since people were executed promptly after sentencing. Stevens also argued that the longer a prisoner awaits execution, the less likely it is that the sentence will produce a deterrent or retributive effect.

Stevens contended that the lengthy appeals process is necessary, however, since more than 30 percent of death penalty verdicts between 1973 and 2000 were overturned. Stevens argued in a 2009 case that the death penalty should be outlawed altogether in order to resolve the issue of whether the extended appeals of capital cases he saw as constitutionally mandated were nevertheless in violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

Justice Clarence Thomas disagreed. Convicted murderer William Thompson argued that his 30 years on Death Row were cruel and unusual punishment. But Thomas wrote that it was the pri... own fault for appealing his sentence again and again. Thomas also said that the severity of Thompson's crime merited the death penalty. Thompson was convicted of torturing and murdering a woman while trying to extort several hundred dollars from her family.

Death penalty opponents have made the same argument in international courts. Is it cruel to keep a person on Death Row, in perpetual doubt about whether he will live or die? Or is it the prisoner's fault for appealing his sentence in the first place? Most of the decisions have sided with the former argument, reasoning that it's only natural that a condemned prisoner would cling to life by mounting extended and repeated appeals.

In some other countries that still use capital punishment--including Kenya, Malawi and Uganda--a death sentence is commuted to life in prison if execution is delayed by more than three years, according to Reprieve, a London-based anti-death penalty nonprofit. The European Court of Human Rights held in 1989 that forcing a condemned prisoner to endure "the conditions on death row and the anguish and mounting tension of living in the ever-present shadow of death" is inhumane. The UK Privy Council, which is the highest court for former Commonwealth countries, also says long periods on Death Row are inhumane because they add the "additional torture of a long period of alternating hope and despair."

Who is they?

SCNDLS said:

Who is they?

The Supreme Court, i guess..

The1592 said:

SCNDLS said:

Who is they?

The Supreme Court, i guess..

Oh, okay.

Bfunkthe1 said:

Dewrede said:

What's voting gonna do ?

Obama supports the death penalty

They need to hold a referendum in order for things to change

[Edited 9/22/11 6:42am]

Voting put's people in power that could've prevented situations like this from happening. Like wise, it puts people in power that allow these type situations to continue. Simple.

My argument is not about the death penalty per se, another discussion another day, it's about righting a very, very possible wrong. Just another example of inequality and injustice in this country.

ok , that makes sense

It is amazing how many black men are being exonerated by DNA testing.

2 NC men walk free after murder exoneration

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Two North Carolina men walked free Thursday when a panel of judges ruled they didn't kill a man during a home invasion despite their guilty pleas a decade earlier.

Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson said they felt pressure to plead guilty to second-degree murder for the shooting of Walter Bowman so they wouldn't have to face the death penalty or life in prison. A later confession by a prisoner led to DNA testing that excluded five men, including Kagonyera and Wilcoxson, who served time for the crime.

"It's been a long time," said the 32-year-old Wilcoxson, who embraced his daughter and father as he walked out of a county lockup after 11 years behind bars.

The case was heard by the judges after intervention by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission — the country's only state agency dedicated to investigating claims of innocence.

"This is a moment we've been waiting for 11 years," said Wilcoxson's mother, Rhonden Finch. "He hasn't been able to sit down and eat breakfast with his daughter. So much has changed in 11 years. So much has changed. He's missed birthdays, graduations. This is a time to celebrate."

The judges announced their decision in Asheville following over a week of testimony.

"It was a blessing. I'm very grateful," said Kagonyera, 31, as he left the lockup walking arm-in-arm with his mother and grandmother.

The release comes a day after Troy Davis was executed in Georgia, despite his insistence that he was innocent of killing a policeman in 1989. Prosecutors stood by his guilt and several courts upheld his conviction.

"I think it's interesting that this exoneration comes the day after the Troy Davis execution in Georgia," said Mary Pollard, director of North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services. "We're lucky to live in a state that, like any human system, admits we're not perfect here and we provide avenues for folks to get relief if they were wrongly convicted."

Bowman was killed when several gunmen wearing bandanas over their faces stormed into his house. Three other people were in the home during the botched robbery and during the chaos, someone fired a shot that killed Bowman. The robbers fled.

Kagonyera and Wilcoxson were among six men charged. Five pleaded guilty to various charges related to Bowman's death and the case was dropped against the sixth man. The other three men served time and were released before Kagonyera and Wilcoxson.

Although Wilcoxson had no prior criminal record, Kagonyera had faced charges in the past including assault with a deadly weapon. But the arrests turned out to be cases of mistaken identity, as a man who later confessed to the crime had not been among those convicted of it.

Kagonyera testified to the panel that he felt pressured by his attorney and family members to accept a plea bargain in order to avoid a possible death sentence. Wilcoxson feared a life sentence that would prevent him from ever seeing his daughter again.

In 2003, federal prisoner Robert Rutherford confessed to the crime and named two different people who were part of the home invasion. DNA was found on the bandanna of one of the people Rutherford named as a suspect, but that evidence excluded any of the five men who had been convicted in connection with the murder and home invasion.

Wilcoxson's father, Robert Wilcoxson-Bey, said he never doubted his son was innocent.

"Justice is always good when it comes right," he said.

Asked what he would do on his first night of freedom, Wilcoxson said, "Pray."

He then walked away with his attorney without answering any other questions. His family said they would gather somewhere and celebrate the decision.

"I'm just so happy. I gave it to God and put it in his hands," said Charlene Holmes, Kagonyera's mother, who cried when the verdict was read. "I can't wait for him to come home."

Dea Johnson, Wilcoxson's ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter, said her daughter, Taneea, could now see her father as a free man for the first time.

"I just want him to see his baby," she said. "This is his pride and joy. This is what he fought for."

The innocence commission has heard three other cases, one of which resulted in the release of a man who served almost 17 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. A three-judge panel found Greg Taylor innocent in February 2010.

Messages left with the Buncombe County District Attorney's Office were not immediately returned Thursday. No one responded to knocks at the door of the office in the county courthouse.

"I'm just so excited. My son is coming home. It's just overwhelming," Wilcoxson-Bey said. "It's been a long, long road. He claimed he was innocent from the beginning, but nobody believed him. Nobody but his family."