Man Exonerated Over 1989 Murder

Jonathan Fleming now 51, had been on holiday in Disney World at the time of the murder and had documents supporting his alibi, but he was still convicted.

Since then, a key eyewitness has recanted and prosecutors turned up a hotel receipt proving he was in Florida hours before the killing.

"I've always had faith," he said.

"I knew that this day would come some day," said Fleming after the exoneration.

Fleming was accused of the murder of Darryl Rush in Brooklyn in 1989.

Prosecutors of the case claimed that Fleming shot Rush over a money dispute.

Despite a key witness saying she had lied soon after his 1990 conviction, he had lost his previous appeals.

A review of the case files produced a hotel receipt Fleming paid in Florida five hours before the shooting and a letter from Orlando police saying employees at the hotel remembered him.

Fleming’s lawyer did not however get this evidence from the investigators despite rules that generally require them to turn over such materials.

Fleming after being set free said, "I'm going to go eat dinner with my mother and my family and I'm going to live the rest of my life."

By Beth Nyaga

Source: BBC News