“We are absolutely thrilled the Supreme Court moved so quickly,” Akselrod said. She and others who were in San Antonio for an Innocence Network conference set off for Virginia on Thursday night to be on hand for Harward’s release.

“This is wonderful news and it’s great to know that Mr. Harward will soon be reunited with his family,” Herring said.

“It’s just heartbreaking to think that more than half of his life was spent behind bars when he didn’t belong there. The commonwealth can’t give him back those years, but we can say that we got it wrong, that we’re sorry, and that we’re working to make it right.”

Michael Kelly, a spokesman for the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, said that at the request of Harward’s attorneys, the office has worked with the state Department of Corrections to have him released early this afternoon. “We also worked with Virginia State Police to have him removed from the Sex Offender Registry,” Kelly said.