DNA Evidence Clears Texas Man Who Spent 30 Years In Prison

Enlarge this image toggle caption Mike Fuentes/AP Mike Fuentes/AP

"You're free to go."

With those words from a judge, Cornelius Dupree Jr. "was exonerated this morning in a Dallas courtroom," the Morning News writes.

The verdict, though, comes after Dupree already spent 30 years in prison "for a rape and robbery he didn't commit," the Associated Press adds.

"It's a joy to be free again," Dupree said after the judge's ruling (he has been out on parole since July; today's decision clears his record).

The 51-year-old Dupree was cleared of wrong-doing thanks to DNA evidence. According to the AP:

"Nationally, only two others who have been exonerated by DNA evidence spent more time in prison, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center representing Dupree that specializes in wrongful conviction cases. James Bain was wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in Florida, and Lawrence McKinney spent more than 31 years in a Tennessee prison."

Update at 5:54 p.m. ET: NPR's Wade Goodwyn has a story on All Things Considered in which he talks to folks at the Innocence Project and Dallas' new district attorney, who's leading the charge on revisiting some of these cases.