US:Ohio Man Walks Free from Prison After Serving 39 Years for a Murder he Didn't Commit

A man who served 39 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, has today walked free.

Ricky Jackson, 57, was charged with the murder of an Ohio based businessman named Harry Franks, in 1975.

The conviction was based solely on the testimony of a twelve-year-old boy, Eddie Vernon, who claimed to have witnessed the murder.

Jackson was found guilty and placed on death row, along with brothers Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman.

Following a Supreme Court ruling in 1978, outlawing capital punishment, their sentences were commuted to life.

In 2013, Vernon recanted his story after confessing to a priest that he had been coerced by the police into lying.

According to Cleveland.com, admitting that he had made a false testimony he said: "All the information was fed to me - I don't have any knowledge about what happened at the scene of the crime."

Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman have now been released from Cuyahoga County Jail as innocent men, after prosecutors asked that the charges be dismissed, the Daily Mail reports. Ronnie Bridgeman was released in 2003.

Dismissing the case, Judge Richard McMonagle said: "Life is filled with small victories, and this is a big one."

Leaving the prison where he had been incarcerated for nearly four decades, Jackson said: "The English language doesn't even fit what I'm feeling. I'm on an emotional high."

Asked of his plans, Jackson said poignantly: "It's ironic. For 39 years, I've had a place to stay. Now, you know, that's precarious."

Bridgeman, who is now 60-years-old, said he never gave up hope that he would someday be granted his freedom.

"You keep struggling, you keep trying," he said.

Bridgeman, who changed his name to Kwame Ajamu, was reunited with his brother Ronnie at the courthouse. He told his brother "Stick with me. You'll be all right. I ain't never going to let you go."

Speaking of his relief he added: "The idea that my brother - both of those guys are my brothers - are getting out? I don't even care about me."

Revealing in a court hearing last week that he has been threatened by detectives, Vernon broke down as he described the burden of guilt he had carried for so long.

Jackson said that despite all the lost years, today he bears no animosity toward Vernon.

"It took a lot of courage to do what he did. He's been carrying a burden around for 39 years, like we have. But in the end, he came through, and I'm grateful for that."