A man in Colorado who spent 28 years behind bars for a rape he denies committing has been released.
Despite everything that’s happened over the last nearly three decades, 60-year-old Clarence Moses-EL finally walked out of prison just days before Christmas, on Tuesday. He posted a $50,000 bond issued by a judge and was able to see his wife and hug his grandchildren for the first time, NBC said.
According to NBC News, a judge not only overturned his conviction from the 1980’s, but she said he would “likely” be acquitted if he were to go on trial again. The district attorney’s office has not yet decided if they will try his case again, according to NBC News, though a tentative trial date has been set for May.
Moses-EL landed behind bars after the rape victim said she saw him in a dream about 24 hours after she was attacked, but during that time period, according to reports, she actually gave the cops the name of another man. That other person is a convicted rapist who later confessed to the violent act.
The story began in 1988 when Moses-EL was accused of assaulting and raping a woman after she went out for a night of drinking, the NY Daily News reports.
Twenty-five years later, Moses-EL received a letter from a convicted rapist who reportedly attacked a woman and her daughter in 1992. The man, identified as L.C. Jackson, said, “I really don’t know what to say to you, but let’s start by bringing what was done in the dark into the light. I have a lot on my heart,” according to court documents obtained by the NY Daily News.
Fast forward to 2015: A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said, “In his statement to the District Attorney’s investigator, he admitted he had lied and made the confession up. He said he had been told by the Innocence Project that he couldn’t be charged in the matter because the statute of limitations, so he felt he could tell a few lies to help out Moses-EL.”
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Towanda Moses, Moses-EL’s relative, feels differently. She told the NY Daily News, “The victim named him, he said he did it, why is my uncle still in jail? That’s the million dollar question.” That statement was made days before his release.
In addition to the confession, NBC News says Moses-EL’s case inspired legislation requiring the preservation of DNA in major felony cases. This was after all of the victim’s clothing and body swabs were thrown out in Moses-EL’s case.
When asked what kept him going all this time, Moses-EL told NBC News it was his spirituality — “and my innocence. That’s what really kept me going.”
Before leaving the sea of people who saw him walk free, Moses-EL said, “this is the moment of my life, right here. I’m at a loss for words. I just want to get home to my family.”
During his imprisonment, Moses-EL has lost many loved ones, including his mother, his two sisters, two brothers, an uncle and a nephew.