Man Acquitted of Murder After 17 Years in L.A. Jail, Released Tuesday Night
Justice takes time to prevail, and in Obie Anthony's case, it waited 17 years. At age 19 Anthony was convicted of fatally shooting a man outside of a South L.A. brothel. The 1995 trial found him guilty by the "trustful" words of a pimp and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On Tuesday night around 7:40pm, Anthony exited the Twin Towers jail after his wrongful conviction was overturned.
"I knew from the beginning that justice will come," said Anthony, reports KABC. "The biggest challenge to surviving in prison is understand that you're a man and you don't have to be that which everybody says you are."
Anthony, now 37-years-old, read self-help books while keeping his faith in God and the truth. Although he spent nearly half of his life behind bars, he says he is not angry. "Absolutely I still trust the system," he said. "How can I not trust the system? The system got me out."
Who nudged justice? Student members of the Project for the Innocent team at Loyola Law School and the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law worked on Anthony's case for 3.5 years to free the innocent man. Last Friday, L.A. Superior Court Judge Kelvin D. Filer reversed Anthony's conviction after determining that that the prosecution's key witness - a pimp - lied to the jury.
Anthony looks to the future with two activities at the top of his list: spending time with his family and attending a Lakers game.
