Innocent Louisana Man Freed After 30 Years in Prison
Investigators found the state did not reveal evidence & used false testimony
Larry Moses, 68, was given a life sentence for first-degree murder in 1995, sentenced to life imprisonment for two counts of first-degree murder. The crime happened at the intersection of Feliciana and Humanity Streets in New Orleans in 1994. According to Innocence Project New Orleans, a suspect approached two people and attempted to rob them, the suspect then shot them both, Larry Moses was convicted of that crime. Innocence Project New Orleans attorney Charell Arnold said Moses was spared the death sentence by a single juror's vote.
After 30 years inside prison, Moses was finally able to take his first breath as a free man.
""It's unbelievable, you know, from the dungeon to back to life again," he said. "I really thought I was gonna die in jail."
According to Arnold, IPNO investigators found the state did not reveal evidence to the defense and his conviction was based on false testimony, and he wasn’t even in town when the shooting happened. "In this case... the sole eyewitness or a man who claimed to be an eyewitness, both had motivation to lie, and to implicate Mr. Moses over a romantic rivalry, and that this eyewitness actually had pretty severe mental health problems and was committed and underwent a psychiatric evaluation," Arnold said.
In late May, a judge granted Moses post-conviction relief and vacated the verdict of his initial trial, but the fight isn't over. "The charges were not dropped by the district attorney's office. He's been granted a new trial, that means he's actually he could actually have a new trial," Arnold said.
"Instead a feeling sorry for yourself, you say 'oh well ain't much I could do about it, but get stronger, because if I give up and feel sorry for myself I'm gonna disappear,'" Moses said. "Don't stop fighting you know? And that's what I did."
Innocence Project New Orleans has won the release of 44 innocent people from prison. You can read more about Moses' case and the broad advocacy work of Innocence Project New Orleans at their website.
