"Is this the true definition of justice prevails?" asked a WAFB reporter to attorney Gary Clements.

Clements hesitated.

"Yes," he said slowly, then added, "... justice delayed."

For Clements' client Glenn Ford, the justice in this case is much delayed... 30 years, in fact. Ford, Louisiana's longest-served death row inmate, walked free this Tuesday after spending close to three decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit.

The now 64-year-old was charged in 1984 with the robbery and killing of Isadore Rozeman, a jeweler and watchmaker. Ford had done occasional yard work for Rozeman and was quickly implicated by police and prosecutors. Despite little evidence, Ford was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death.

Throughout the years, Ford maintained that he did not kill Rozeman. He filed several appeals, most of which were denied, until the year 2000 when the Louisiana Supreme Court ordered a reexamination of Ford's sentence based on evidence that the prosecution has suppressed valuable information regarding two key suspects in the murder.

Thirteen years later, Glenn Ford is a free man due to "credible evidence" that "Ford was neither present at, nor a participant in, the robbery and murder of Isadore Rozeman."

"My mind's going all kinds of directions, but it feels good," said Ford to reporters outside the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana.

When asked if felt any resentment he replied, "Yeah, because I was locked up almost 30 years for something I didn't do."

Ford says he has lost a good portion of his life that he can't get back. His children were babies when he was convicted. Now they are grown with children of their own.

There have been several inmates freed from death row in the last few years, and some have, in tragic cases, been exonerated after their execution. Many are opposed to the death penalty primarily on the basis that there are many suspected innocents on death row.

"Glenn Ford is living proof of just how flawed our justice system truly is," said Thenjiwe Tameika McHarris of Amnesty International. "We are moved that Mr. Ford, an African-American man convicted by an all-white jury, will be able to leave death row a survivor."

"Is this the true definition of justice prevails?" asked a WAFB reporter to attorney Gary Clements.

Clements hesitated. "Yes," he said slowly, then added, "... justice delayed."

For Clements' client Glenn Ford, the justice in this case is much delayed... 30 years, in fact.

Glenn Ford, Louisiana's longest-served death row inmate, walked free this Tuesday after spending close to three decades behind bars for a murder he did not commit.

The now 64-year-old was charged in 1984 with the robbery and killing of Isadore Rozeman, a jeweler and watchmaker. Ford had done occasional yard work for Rozeman and was quickly implicated by police and prosecutors. Despite little evidence, Ford was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death.

Throughout the years, Ford maintained that he did not kill Rozeman. He filed several appeals, most of which were denied until the year 2000, when the Louisiana Supreme Court ordered a reexamination of Ford's sentence based on evidence that the prosecution has suppressed valuable information regarding two key suspects in the murder.

Thirteen years later, Glenn Ford is a free man due to "credible evidence" that "Ford was neither present at, nor a participant in, the robbery and murder of Isadore Rozeman."

"My mind's going all kinds of directions, but it feels good," said Ford to reporters outside the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana.

When asked if felt any resentment he replied, "Yeah, because I was locked up almost 30 years for something I didn't do."

Ford says he has lost a good portion of his life that he can't get back. His children were babies when he was convicted. Now they are grown with children of their own.

There have been several inmates freed from death row in the last few years, and some have, in tragic cases, been exonerated after their execution. Many are opposed to the death penalty primarily on the basis that there are many suspected innocents on death row.

"Glenn Ford is living proof of just how flawed our justice system truly is," said Thenjiwe Tameika McHarris of Amnesty International. "We are moved that Mr. Ford, an African-American man convicted by an all-white jury, will be able to leave death row a survivor."

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