A man who spent nearly three decades in prison after being convicted of murder after being falsely implicated by a woman who has since confessed to the crime was released Thursday from a Minnesota prison.
The day before, state District Court Judge Marta Chou had vacated Bryan Hooper Sr.’s first-degree murder conviction. He was released Thursday morning from Stillwater Correctional Facility, a Great North Innocence Project spokesperson said.
“Today, the courts have affirmed what Bryan Hooper, his family, his loved ones, and his advocates have always known: Mr. Hooper is an innocent man,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “It is our duty as prosecutors to hold the correct individuals responsible for their actions, and that duty demands that we acknowledge our mistakes and make things right as quickly as we can.”…