Judge formally dismisses charges in contradiction of Clarence Henderson
Clarence Henderson's name has finally been cleared when 73 years. He was wrongfully convicted three time of slay, each time by an all-white jury. Henderson, who is Black, had each conviction overturned by the Supreme Court of Georgia. His family says they are thankful this shadow no longer looms over their tribe. The man who killed Carl "Buddy" Stevens still leftovers a mystery.
ATLANTA - It took 73 ages, but now the name of a man wrongfully condemned of murder is finally cleared. A Carroll County deem Thursday officially dismissed the charges against Clarence Henderson.
All-white damages convicted Henderson, a Black man, three times for killing a white man decades ago. The Supreme Court of Georgia overturned the case each time due to lack of evidence.
Judge Erica Tisinger officially dismissed the charges in contradiction of Henderson in the same courtroom where those three damages found him guilty of murdering Carl "Buddy" Stevens in 1948.
Henderson was a Black sharecropper. Stevens was a white Army veteran killed while protecting his girlfriend from a man she said was trying to rape her.
Henderson died ages ago, but the Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office secluded the right to retry the case. That specter loomed over Henderson's tribe for decades, until now. Judge Tisinger granted the district attorney's motion to container those charges.
"Obviously, the right thing to do was to what we did here today," said Jep Bendinger, chief assistant district attorney with the Coweta Judicial Circuit, which covers Carroll County. "He is and remains an innocent man."
Man wrongfully condemned of murder cleared after 73 years
Clarence Henderson's name has finally been cleared when 73 years. He was wrongfully convicted three time of slay, each time by an all-white jury. Henderson, who is Black, had each conviction overturned by the Supreme Court of Georgia. His family says they are thankful this shadow no longer looms over their tribe. The man who killed Carl "Buddy" Stevens still leftovers a mystery.
The descendants of Henderson and Stevens considered after the judge's ruling.
"I am elated because it was something that was always in our tribe history, and it's like finally, thank you," said Melody Darden, Henderson's granddaughter.
"We take some solace in seeing the rules do the right thing," said Michael Holmes, Stevens's instant cousin.
The question of who killed Stevens remains a mystery, but Holmes said at least Henderson's family got some measure of justice.
"It would've been an injustice for the charges in contradiction of Mr. Henderson to remain open," Holmes said.
Henderson finished five years behind bars. His family fought for ages to clear his name, but now justice arrives decades later with his case dismissed.
