Manhattan DA exonerates murder conviction of man who spent over 20 years in prison

After 25 years behind bars, Jabar Walker left court in Lower Manhattan on Monday a free man.  

Walker hugged his mother while declaring "I'm trying to process it right now. I feel real good to be out."

Now 49, Walker was 23 when he was convicted of double murder in 1998 and sentenced to consecutive terms of 25 years to life.

But an 11-month joint investigation with The Innocence Project prompted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office to have the sentences vacated, and the indictment dismissed based upon the discovery of new evidence.

"There were witnesses who were pressured by police to give false testimony against Mr. Walker. Eyewitnesses who saw the shooting who know that Mr. Walker was not the person who committed the crime," said Vanessa Potkin, an attorney with The Innocence Project.

Potkin says they interviewed more than 30 people and learned that a key witness tried to recant his testimony the day Walker was sentenced.  That witness recanted his testimony twice under oath -- in 1999 and again two years later.

Outside the courthouse, Walker’s mother told reporters that upon hearing her son’s case was being dismissed she shed "a lot of tears, a lot of happy tears."

In a statement released to FOX 5 NY, DA Bragg said: "Not only was the case against Jabar Walker built upon unreliable and recanted testimony, he did not have the benefit of an effective defense attorney – one of the constitutional bedrocks of our justice system. Despite these serious issues, Mr. Walker received a sentence that could have kept him in prison for his entire life."

"I'm grateful for The Innocence Project, I'm grateful for the Wrongful Conviction Unit, just happy to be home with my family now," Walker said.