A Missouri man jailed for more than 40 years due to a wrongful conviction will be released after a judge ruled in his favor.
The evidence used to convict Kevin Strickland, 62, has been recanted or disproven since his 1979 conviction, according to a Tuesday ruling by Judge James Welsh, a former Missouri Court of Appeals judge, after a three-day evidentiary hearing.
“To say we’re extremely pleased and grateful is an understatement,” Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a press statement. “This brings justice — finally — to a man who has tragically suffered so so greatly as a result of this wrongful conviction.”
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“Kevin Strickland will be freed,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas on Twitter Tuesday. “Praise the Lord! My heart breaks that his mother never got the chance to see him free, but I am heartened that we have justice.”
Kevin Strickland will be freed. Praise the Lord! My heart breaks that his mother never got the chance to see him free, but I am heartened that we have justice. My thanks to the Midwest Innocence Project, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker, and all who fought for Kevin.
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) November 23, 2021
Strickland will be immediately ejected from the state’s custody, the ruling states.
Strickland was arrested in 1979 for allegedly killing three people in Kansas City. The older man has maintained he wasn’t at the crime scene, saying he was at home watching television.
Strickland has been imprisoned for 42 years and four months despite the questions about whether he was guilty.
In May, Baker said her office reviewed the case in light of recently passed legislation regarding wrongful convictions and expressed an intent to exonerate Strickland. Baker filed a motion in August to free Strickland, citing “clear and convincing evidence that he is actually innocent.”
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While Strickland will soon be freed, the 62-year-old man will not receive any compensation from the state for decades spent behind bars, according to the Kansas City Star.
