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WEBVTT BARRY: MR. SHIPLEY’S MOTHER WEPT IN COURT BUT GLAD TO SEE HIM WHEN HE CAME OUT. SHE CALLED THIS ONE OF THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS PRESENTS THAT SHE COULD RECEIVE. CLARENCE SHIPLEY WAS RELEASED AFTER SERVING 27 YEARS IN PRISON FOR A MURDER AND ROBBERY HE DID NOT COMMIT. INVESTIGATORS FOUND NEW EVIDENCE PROVING HE WAS NOT THE SHOOTER IN THE OCTOBER 1991 MURDER OF KEVIN SMITH IN CHERRY HILL. NOT ONLY WERE THERE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE CASE, SOME OF THE WITNESSES LIED AND THERE WAS ANOTHER SUSPECT, LARRY DAVIS, WHO DIED IN 2005. SHIPLEY ALWAYS MAINTAINED HIS INNOCENCE AND REPEATEDLY CHALLENGED HIS CONVICTION. A FORMER BALTIMORE CITY DETECTIVE, THE UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE INNOCENT -- INNOCENCE CLINIC AND THE BALTIMORE STATE’S ATTORNEY INTEGRITY UNIT WHERE PART OF THE REINVESTIGATION. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED HE GOT TO HUG HIS MOTHER AND SON AND OTHER SUPPORTIVE FAMILY MEMBERS. >> STAY POSITIVE, SURROUND MYSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE. WHO WAS BEHIND BARS WITH ME. AND I KEPT BELIEVING IN GOD. BARRY: WHAT WAS IT LIKE YOU IN THAT COURTROOM AND THE JUDGE SAID -- >> UNBELIEVABLE. I HAVE NO WORDS. >> I WAS CRYING AND A LITTLE NERVOUS BUT I WAS STILL PRAISING GOD WHILE I WAS SITTING IN THAT COURTROOM. YOU KNOW I SAID HALLELUJAH, THANK YOU, JESUS. >> WHEN A MAN CAN SPEND TWICE SEVEN YEARS OF THE PRIME OF HIS LIFE BEHIND BARS AND SO ON BEHALF OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AS A REPRESENTATIVE, IT IS INCUMBENT ON US TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ERROR AND THAT PAIN THAT WE HAVE INFLICTED UPON THIS MAN AND HIS FAMILY AND THAT IS THE REASON WHY I APOLOGIZED TO MR. CLARENCE SHIPLEY TODAY. BARRY: SHIPLEY SAYS HE FORGIVES THE WITNESSES WHO LIED, HE IS GRATEFUL TO BE FREE RIGHT NOW ESPECIALLY TODAY WHICH IS HIS GRANDSON’S BIRTHDAY.

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A Baltimore City man is free after serving 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit."I'm going to do God's work, whatever God allows me to do. That's what I want to do," Clarence Shipley said after being released. In 1992, Shipley was convicted of first-degree murder of Kevin Smith. His conviction has been tossed out and the charges dropped after Shipley served 27 years in prison. When he learned police were looking for him, Shipley turned himself in. He always maintained he was innocent of an October 1991 murder and robbery. Through his trial and conviction in 1992 and post-conviction hearings, Shipley continued challenging what happened in court, claiming he was somewhere else at the time of the crime and police arrested the wrong man.The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project said police did not investigate his alibi or tips that another man was the shooter. Witness testimony also claimed the shooter was right-handed; Shipley is left-handed.Shipley's family hired a retired Baltimore homicide detective to look into the case. That's when things began to change. Shipley's case went before the University of Baltimore Innocence Project Clinic and other groups investigating possible wrongful convictions.Several witnesses provided information to the Conviction Integrity Unit of the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office that persuaded officials Shipley had no involvement in Smith's killing."When a man, who is an innocent man, spent 27 years of the prime of his life behind bars, so on behalf of the criminal justice system, as a representative of the criminal justice system, I think it's incumbent on us to acknowledge that error and that pain that we've inflicted upon this man and his family, and that's the reason why I apologized to Mr. Clarence Shipley today," Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said. "I'm happy, I rejoice and I thank God that the day came that they released him, and this will be a good Christmas for all of us," said Ola Shipley, Clarence Shipley's mother. "I lost a lot of years with him, a lot of years. We were going in the jail to see him, but it's still like you can't hug him like your loved ones at home.""I lost a lot. I lost a child while I was behind bars, a child that I never got to know," Clarence Shipley said. Added Wanda Dawson, Clarence Shipley's aunt: "Finally, my nephew is home. He's free, and we're very grateful for everything. We're grateful for everyone that helped him. We're very grateful and we thank you. This is a blessed day, a rejoicing day for the family, and we're so happy. And I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."Throughout his ordeal, Clarence Shipley continued fighting to prove his innocence."We all talked and we all went to see him and kept his hope up. That's the main thing, keep your hope up. Don't ever give up. God didn't give up on us, so don't give up, keep your hope up. There's more people in there who didn't do nothing, but God is going to bring them out," Ola Shipley said."I stayed positive, kept working, surrounded myself with positive people who were behind bars with me. And I just kept believing in God," Clarence Shipley said. According to the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, it has helped get 30 innocent men released or exonerated."I thank God for them people, I really do, I just thank them. Y'all just don't know. I appreciate everything that everybody did," Ola Shipley said.Shipley said he forgives the witnesses who lied and that he's just grateful to be free.Asked what this Christmas will be like, Clarence Shipley said, "It's a blessing. It's going to be good. I'm excited. Happy."