A man incarcerated for nearly 40 years was released from prison on Monday after a judge ruled his conviction be overturned.
Harold Staten, 71, was found guilty after prosecutors said he set a 1986 fire that killed a man in Philadelphia after his home burst into flames, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Charles Harris and three others jumped from the home’s second floor. Harris succumbed to severe burns three days later.
“We have been working on Harold Staten’s case in various ways for over a decade and are elated that he is now home with his family to start the next chapter of his life after nearly 4 decades of wrongful incarceration ,” the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, which filed the petition for his release, told ABC News in a statement.
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Staten’s conviction decades ago was based on science that was considered flawed by a judge on Monday and conflicting testimonies from a teenager after the fire, according to the district attorney’s office. Staten was serving a life sentence without parole for arson, second-degree murder and other related charges.