Sullivan Walter, a 53-year-old Black man who was wrongfully convicted for rape more than 36 years ago in New Orleans, became free on Thursday after a judge threw out his conviction. Judge Darryl Derbigny vehemently spoke up in support of Walter, saying blood and semen evidence that could have cleared him never made it to to the jury. “To say this was unconscionable is an understatement,” Derbigny said in court according to the Associated Press . Walter was arrested at the age of 17 after being accused of breaking into a home in 1986 and raping a woman who is identified as L.S. in the records. According to the allegations that surfaced at the time, Walter held a knife to the woman’s throat and threatened to harm her 8-year-old son, who slept through the incident. Attorney Emily Maw said the woman was the only witness and she had mistakenly identified Walter. “There were some red flags that the eyewitness testimony could well have been unreliable,” Maw told Derbigny. The red flags...
