A man wrongly convicted of murder was acquitted Tuesday, after spending 25 years in jail.
Jonathan Fleming, 51, was found guilty of shooting Darryl Rush in 1989 in New York despite having an alibi of being on a family trip to Disney World, Florida. Officials said that Fleming had killed his friend Rush over a possible disagreement and argument over money.
Fleming walked free from the jail after spending 24 years and 8 months in jail.
The decision to acquit him came after Fleming's lawyers and the Conviction Review Unit of Brooklyn district found new evidence that showed Fleming was in Florida when his friend Rush was shot dead Aug. 15, 1989. The officials reassessed the documents and gathered new information that supported Fleming's alibi. They got a receipt for a Florida hotel phone bill that he paid hours before the crime happened. Also, the investigators found a report by Orlando police department that said hotel employees remembered seeing him.
"As you can imagine, after sitting in jail for 25 years for a crime he didn't commit, he can't help but feel vindicated," Anthony Mayol, one of Fleming's lawyers said, reports CNN. "On the flip side, that's 25 years that have been stolen, that he'll never get back."
Taylor Koss, the other lawyer for Fleming said that he had plane tickets, videos and postcards from his trip. But prosecutors then said he could have made a quick round-trip to be in New York, reports the Associated Press.
A tearful Fleming hugged family members and his lawyers after the judge's ruling. His mother said, "After 25 years, come hug your mother."
"I feel wonderful," Fleming said, reports AP. "I've always had faith. I knew that this day would come someday."
