Wrongly-imprisoned man released from LA jail after more than 3 decades

LOS ANGELES -- After more than three decades behind bars, a wrongly-imprisoned man was freed and reunited with his family in downtown Los Angeles.

Andrew Wilson was released from Men's Central Jail thanks to Project for the Innocent.

"Three years ago, they gave me reason that (my release) was going to happen," he said.

In 1984, the year of the Los Angeles Olympics, Wilson was arrested for murder and rejected a plea deal because he said he didn't do it.

More than 30 years later, law students heard evidence from Wilson's mother. Margie Davis, 96, spoke with Eyewitness News over the phone from St. Louis.

"I got it firsthand 30 years ago. I know all about how he was framed," she said. "I prayed for what I thought was the impossible. I prayed for his release. Evidently, it wasn't impossible. It's been granted to me."

The lawyers said Davis was a fighter and wrote "hundreds" of letters to Project for the Innocent and the district attorney's office to have him freed.

Wilson and his family said they hold no hostility to those who wrongly accused him.

In May, Wilson, 63, will go back to court to seek a finding of factual innocence and what he needs to get compensation from the state.