In 1976, Finch was sentenced to die, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The state Supreme Court reduced his sentence to life in prison after the U.S. Supreme Court that the state's death penalty law unconstitutional.

In an interview earlier this week, Finch told WNCN that he forgives the person who identified him as the killer "because he didn't know what he was doing." That person had said the killer was wearing a three-quarter length jacket. Finch said a detective had him wear a coat in the police lineup — and Finch was the only one wearing a coat in that lineup.

"When I was picked up, they didn't question me or nothing. The put me there in a lineup. Straight in a lineup. And they put me in a lineup with a black leather coat on," Finch said.

Coleman told WNCN that a highlight of the evidentiary hearing came "when we were able to expose that he had lied about the lineup and he had dressed Ray in a coat, and he was the only one wearing a coat in the lineup."