Death Row Inmate Walks Free

Glenn Ford walked out of a maximum-security prison in Louisiana a free man Tuesday after spending much of the last 30 years on death row. In 1984, Ford was found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder of Isadore Rozeman, a watchmaker and jeweler for whom he’d done occasional yardwork, despite the fact that there were no eyewitnesses to the murder, a weapon was never found, and the woman who initially implicated Ford later testified that she had lied. Ford, who is black, was represented by inexperienced lawyers who’d never tried a murder case and then convicted by an all-white jury. He has always maintained his innocence. On Tuesday, a Louisiana district court judge vacated his conviction and death sentence based on new information and ordered him released. “My mind’s going all different kinds of directions, but it feels good,” Ford said moments after walking outside the prison.