SOMERVILLE — With a light drizzle falling, there was no stopping Gerard Richardson from stepping out into the rain.

It was two days after the 48-year-old grandfather was released after spending nearly half his life in prison for a murder new DNA evidence suggests he didn’t commit. His conviction overturned, it was the start of a new life for a changed man.

"I want to go outside and let the water hit me," Richardson recalled telling his brother on that late October day. It was a sensation, he said, that often eluded him behind bars.

After spending nearly two decades in prison for the murder of an Elizabeth woman in Somerset County, a Superior Court judge on Oct. 28 overturned Richardson’s 1995 conviction in light of the DNA evidence. He was released the next day on $5,000 bail. Prosecutors have not yet dismissed the charges against him.

This week, Richardson sat down for a two-hour interview with The Star-Ledger at the offices of the Innocence Project, a New York-based organization that seeks to exonerate individuals through DNA evidence and was instrumental in getting his conviction thrown out.

Richardson, who had been serving a 30-year prison sentence, said he could feel angry and bitter about his long struggle for freedom, but that wouldn’t do him any good. His focus, he said, is on the road ahead and spending time with the family he left behind.

"I’m not mad at the state or nothing like that. Just gotta move on," the former Elizabeth resident said. "It’s not gonna do me no good … to dwell in the past. Just gotta move on and enjoy my family and my kids and my grandkids."

Gerard Richardson and siblings Kevin Richardson and Yvette Green take a walk to view the Freedom Tower on Tuesday morning, November 5, 2013. Richardson was released from prison last week after serving nearly 20 years.

Of his six children, the oldest was 11 when he was arrested; the youngest was born a few months afterward. The children may now be adults, but they’re still his babies, Richardson said.

"I still want to be there for them … take that walk with them," he said.

As his 10 grandchildren get older, Richardson said, he would like to use his story as a lesson for them. A former drug dealer, Richardson said he wants to teach them to be around positive people who want something out of life.

"I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I made," he said.

Soon after being released from prison, Richardson visited some of his grandchildren in Elizabeth. With smiles on their faces, the kids kissed their grandfather and held him tight, Richardson said.

Then he visited his 74-year-old mother in Rahway. During one prison visit, she had told him that by the time he finished his sentence, she would be dead, Richardson recalled.

"I didn’t like hearing that," Richardson said. "I had to keep fighting. I wanted my mother to see me walk out of prison, proving that I didn’t do it."

Looking for a "fresh start" outside of New Jersey, Richardson has moved in with his older brother, Kevin, in Pennsylvania to begin rebuilding his life.

On his first day there, Richardson said, he stayed around the house, ate pizza with his nephew and watched a boxing match. He also experienced some technical difficulties with a smart phone, the first cell phone he had used since using what he said looked like "walkie-talkie" before his arrest.

In the days that followed, Richardson donned a FedEx uniform and joined his brother at work to help with making deliveries.

After being released from prison last week, Gerard Richardson, right, donned a FedEx uniform and joined his older brother, Kevin, in making deliveries.

"I’m not used to just sitting around, not doing anything," he said. "Even in the prison, I was busy."

While in two prisons before his release, Richardson performed various jobs, including cooking, and he also worked as a mentor to younger inmates awaiting their release as well as a tutor for inmates who needed help with reading and other skills.

But Richardson also could be found in the law library, conducting legal research as he pursued DNA testing in the case.

"He’s very resilient and he has … a determination that’s second to none," said Kevin Richardson, adding that "most people in his case would have probably given up."

Richardson was arrested after the body of 19-year-old Monica Reyes was found in a ditch along Old Stagecoach Road in Bernards Township on Feb. 25, 1994. Investigators determined Reyes died after suffering multiple blows to the head.

Authorities alleged she owed Richardson money for drugs.

The case against Richardson was based largely on a bite mark found on Reyes’ lower back. During the November 1995 trial, a forensic odontologist testified for the prosecution that the bite mark matched Richardson’s teeth. A defense expert, however, testified no such match existed.

Nonetheless, Richardson was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

A major breakthrough came earlier this year when Richardson’s attorneys with the Innocence Project secured DNA testing that revealed the DNA profile of an unknown male on a portion of a swab taken from the bite mark.

An assistant prosecutor filed court papers, saying authorities would not oppose a defense motion to vacate the conviction, but Richardson wanted more than that.

Richardson wanted to hear him say it.

His attorney had said the conviction could be overturned without a court appearance, but Richardson insisted on going to court. With the media watching and his family members present, Richardson wanted the moment to happen in the public eye, just like when he was convicted and later sentenced.

"If I would’ve had to wait another month for the court date … I would’ve waited," Richardson said. "I’m saying it’s vindication, you know, to be done in the courtroom. … Even though he didn’t dismiss it all the way, just the thought of him saying that he agreed to vacate the sentence in the courtroom."

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