AUGUSTA, Ga. — A Georgia man was released from prison on Monday, just in time for Christmas, after being incarcerated for 23 years for a murder he didn't commit.
Devonia Inman, wrongfully convicted in the 1998 murder of a south Georgia Taco Bell manager, left Augusta State Medical Prison and embraced his family as a free man for the first time in more than two decades.
The release came nearly eight years since a court first heard DNA evidence of his innocence, the Georgia Innocence Project said.
At the initial trial, prosecutors focused in a ski mask that was found in the victim's stolen car.
Defense attorneys for Inman tried to bring witnesses to testify that another man had committed the crime, but were not allowed by a judge to present the testimony about that possible other suspect. According to Georgia Innocence Project, Inman later learned the State also withheld evidence that could have implicated the other man.
The other man believed to be the real murderer was later stopped by police, who found a ski mask similar to the one found in the Taco Bell murder case.
The jury that convicted Inman never heard about the other mask, though, "because the prosecution never disclosed the police report describing the incident and mask which had been found."
"Despite having an alibi and no physical or reliable evidence tying him to the Taco Bell Murder, Devonia was convicted for armed robbery and malice murder. He was sentenced to life without parole, meaning he would die in prison," Georgia Innocence Project said in a release.
The other man, according to the organization, went on to kill two other people and is currently in prison. Years later, DNA testing was done that showed the other man's DNA, and only his DNA, was present on the ski mask.
“I spent 23 years behind bars for something I didn’t do,” Inman said in a satement. “It took a really long time to fix, even though it was so clear I wasn’t guilty. I’m glad I get to finally go home, and I’m grateful to everyone who helped make that possible.”
Georgia Innocence Project said Inman's time in prison continued even after the emergence of the DNA evidence exonerating him because of a legal system that resisted acknowledging his innocence.
"The prosecutor opposed a new trial for Devonia and the same trial judge sided with the prosecutor. When Devonia tried to appeal that decision, the Georgia Supreme Court wouldn’t let Devonia appeal," the group said. "When the Georgia Supreme Court changed their mind and directly urged the Attorney General to 'Let Justice be Done' in Devonia’s case, the AG declined and his office continued to fight the case for two more years."
Christina Cribbs, the senior attorney for Georgia Innocence Project said it took a "massive team effort that spanned almost a decade to correct this obvious injustice and free and innocent man from prison."
According to the group, Inman will now rejoin his family in California and "begin the journey of readjusting and healing." A fund to help him rebuild his life is collecting donations, and so far has raised a little more than $4,000 of a $7,000 goal.
Georgia Innocence Project is calling on the state to change its ethics rules for prosecutors so that they are required to "remedy clear innocence cases like Devonia Inman's."