On Thursday, Hope Cady told the court that, contrary to her original testimony, she did not witness the killing of 16-year old Jessica Briggs, that she had been forced into testifying by Portland police detectives and a state prosecutor, and that Sanborn deserves to go free.

Following the brutal murder on the Portland waterfront in 1989, Cady testified that Sanborn killed Briggs, whom he had dated. Cady was 13 at the time, living partially on the streets and under the supervision of a state social worker at the time. As the sole eyewitness, her testimony was key to the conviction that put Sanborn behind bars for most of the last three decades.