August 17th 2023.
Jerry Davis, a New Orleans native, was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1984. Forty years later, a judge deemed his trial unconstitutional due to misconduct on behalf of the prosecution, freeing the 64-year-old father of two and clearing his name.
To Jerry, the years he spent wrongfully imprisoned felt like a battle of the mind. He said, "It's kind of miserable, but you try to block everything out, don't think about it... find other things that occupy my mind. You know, just to keep my mind off of where I'm at."
What made Jerry's conviction especially heinous was that he wasn't even at the scene of the crime. According to WWL News, Innocence Project New Orleans Legal Director Richard Davis has been working to help prove Jerry's innocence. He said, "A couple were visiting New Orleans; they were setting up a camper van in a trailer park off Chef Menteur in New Orleans East. They were approached by two men who robbed them and shot them."
"A police informant facing a 24-year sentence for an unrelated crime approached the police and gave them information about this case. He named a second individual. The police then went to that second individual and said, we know you were there," Davis continued. "The judge recently found that both the prosecution witnesses gave false testimony, the prosecutors hid testimony that should have been handed over to Jerry, and they did not correct their witnesses when they gave false testimony and, in fact, amplified those lies that convicted Jerry."
Throughout this ordeal, Jerry has been able to stay positive and is now looking forward to reconnecting with his children and grandchildren. Despite the years he lost, Jerry is grateful for his second chance and is ready to move forward and put the last 40 years behind him.
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