Montana Gov. Steve Bullock ordered on Friday the release of Barry Beach, who has spent roughly three decades in prison after being convicted for the 1979 murder of a high school classmate. Beach had maintained his innocence and became a national cause for rights groups when he said his 1983 confession was coerced by police. The state’s Democratic governor freed Beach under a new law that gives the state governor the final decision in clemency requests rather than the parole board.
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