He Spent 25 Years In Prison For A Murder He Didn’t Commit. He Was Just Fully Exonerated.

Ashe SchowMay 2, 2023

Baltimore Man Exonerated After Decades-Long Battle

A Baltimore man, Anthony Hall, was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1992 based on the unreliable testimony of two witnesses. However, after years of fighting to clear his name, Hall was finally exonerated in March 2022.

The Witnesses

In 1991, Nancy Hill and Gerald Patterson claimed to have witnessed Hall chasing a man down an alley who was later found shot and killed. Hill identified Hall as one of the men carrying weapons, even though his face was obscured by a hoodie. Patterson claimed he saw Hall running across the street with a weapon.

However, decades later, it was discovered that there were multiple eyewitnesses who gave descriptions that did not match Hall. Additionally, undisclosed witnesses informed police of an alternative suspect whose description matched the one given by other witnesses and who had a motive to commit the crime.

The Truth Comes Out

After years of working on the case, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) was finally able to talk to witnesses who confirmed that Patterson never saw the shooting and only gave Hall’s name because he had been threatened by police. In March 2022, Patterson and other witnesses who denied Hall’s involvement testified at a hearing for Hall’s petition for a writ of actual innocence. Despite prosecutors’ attempts to argue against Hall’s innocence, the judge granted his petition and cleared his name.