California Man Freed After 16 Years

Reggie Cole was released from a California prison on Saturday after serving 16 years in prison for a Los Angeles murder that evidence shows he did not commit. Upon his release, he went straight to the California Western School of Law in San Diego to visit the

California Innocence Project

and thank the dozens of students and lawyers who worked on his case for over three years, eventually developing evidence of his innocence.

During its investigation of the case, the California Innocence Project uncovered evidence that Cole’s lawyers hadn’t provided adequate representation at trial and that prosecutors had withheld key evidence. Cole’s conviction was tossed last year, but he remained in prison until Saturday on an unrelated conviction.

“Just a little over 24 hours ago I was sitting in a cell, and now I’m here hugging my family,” a jubilant Cole said Sunday night from his sister’s home in Los Angeles. “The traffic and the phones — it’s a completely different world here. In solitary, you’re just looking at a wall.”

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The California Innocence Project is a member of the

Innocence Network

.