Oregon man sentenced to death for 1988 murder is free after conviction reversed: "A lot of years for something I didn't do"

A man sentenced to death for a 1998 murder is now free, two years after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the conviction.

The Oregon Innocence Project on Wednesday accused the state of committing a "heinous injustice" in its handling of the case. The Marion County District Attorney's office on Tuesday asked the Marion County Circuit Court to dismiss the case against Jesse Johnson, saying that "based upon the amount of time that has passed and the unavailability of critical evidence in this case, the state no longer believes that it can prove the defendant's guilt."

The court granted the motion, and late Tuesday, Johnson walked out of the county jail where he was held while prosecutors had mulled a retrial for the stabbing death of nurse's aide Harriet "Sunny" Thompson, 28, in her Salem home. Johnson, who is Black, has repeatedly claimed innocence and refused a plea deal over the years.