A man in Hawaii argued he spent 30 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. New DNA evidence helped free him

Gordon Cordeiro, who spent more than half his life in prison for a murder he denied committing, walked out of a Maui correctional center on what he called “Freedom Friday” thanks to new DNA evidence.

Hours after a judge ruled that the outcome of another potential murder trial against him would likely be altered by the new evidence, Cordeiro was met with cheers, hugs and Hawaiian lei greetings when he emerged from the correctional facility.

“I thank all these people,” he said, referring to relatives, friends and members of his legal team who greeted him outside, according to video from CNN affiliate KHNL. “These are the people that got me out. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it.”

Cordeiro, now 51, was in his 20s when he was convicted of the 1994 murder of Timothy Blaisdell during a drug deal robbery in Maui, according to the Hawaii Innocence Project, which took up his case and argued that new evidence – including DNA test results – showed he was not at the crime scene at the time of the murder. Project lawyers also pointed to what they said was false testimony against him and misconduct by prosecutors.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-hawaii-argued-spent-30-182241007.html