After almost 40 years of being wrongly jailed Ricky Jackson, of Ohio, will be freed Friday.
"I can't believe this is over," Jackson, 57, said in court.
Jackson was set up by "witness" Eddie Vernon, then 12, and sentenced to life in prison on aggrivated murder charges.
On May 19, 1975 Vernon lied in court saying he witnessed Jackson and two brothers, Wiley and Ronnie Bridgeman, murder a money-order collector, The Plain Dealer reported.
Police records indicate that just before the man died he was beaten, shot and attacked with acid as he walked near a grocery store.
"All the information was fed to me,'' Vernon said in court. "I don't have any knowledge about what happened at the scene of the crime.''
Vernon was apparently on a nearby bus with other school children at the time of the murder, but was far enough away that it would have been impossible for him to see the crime. His peers from the bus testified saying he couldn't have saw the crime.
"Everything was a lie. They were all lies,'' Vernon said in court. "I'm thinking, 'I'm doing the right thing. I know who did it.''
Vernon's change of heart came after he spoke with a pastor, reported The Plain Dealer.
Vernon explained that he was fed the false information by Cleveland detectives and was threatened that his parents would get imprisoned if he told the truth.
The truthful testimony also came two years after Scene Magazine questioned Vernon's testimony.
Judge Richard McMonagle's spokesperson said they likely will not bring any charges against Vernon.
