‘That was hell:’ Three black men wrongly jailed for 36 years freed with mere apology in US

Three black men from Baltimore who served 36 years in prison for a murder they didn't commit were released Monday, without compensation and a mere “apology.”

“On behalf of the criminal justice system, and I’m sure this means very little to you gentlemen, I’m going to apologize,” Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters told the men as he cleared their convictions.

Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins, who were 16 at the time, and Andrew Stewart, 17, were arrested on Thanksgiving Day in 1983.

The trio was found guilty of shooting and killing 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett at Harlem Park Junior High School for his Georgetown jacket.

They were all sentenced to life in prison after the testimony of four Harlem Park students who identified them and a crucial piece of evidence -- the Georgetown jacket that was found in Chestnut's bedroom.

“Present day, all four of those witnesses have recanted,” Assistant State’s Attorney Lauren Lipscomb told the judge.

“There is evidence of coerced pretrial preparation ... One former student told the state that they were told quote ‘Get with the program," she added.

The jacket was found in Chestnut’s closet after police searched his home, even though it had no blood or gunshot residue.

Thirty-three years later it turned out that the jacket belonged to his mother, not the victim.

Earlier this year, the case was reopened after Chestnut, who has maintained his innocence from the very beginning, found new exculpatory evidence that was kept from his attorneys during his trial.

Baltimore state attorney Marilyn Mosby said that Maryland currently has no formal system of compensation for those falsely convicted of a crime but that she will fight for it.

"That was hell, That was miserable," Chestnut, who is now in his early 50s, said of his time in prison.