A North Carolina man hugged his family as a free man for the first time in decades this week after serving 44 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Ronnie Long was greeted by family and community members who had long proclaimed his innocence on Thursday afternoon when he made his long-awaited exit from the Albemarle Correctional Institution in Stanly County, North Carolina.
He had spent 44 years arguing for an appeal, along with a team of advocates and pro bono attorneys, in an effort to overturn his 1976 conviction. The team logged a victory earlier this week when the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Long’s constitutional rights had been violated during his trial. (ABC News)
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