Ohio judge releases man imprisoned 23 years for woman’s slaying

CLEVELAND (AP) — A judge in Cleveland has released a man who spent 23 years in prison for killing his girlfriend after a prosecutor said evidence presented at his trial wasn’t valid based on today’s forensics science.

Fifty-nine-year-old Evin King was enveloped by joyous family members after the judge vacated his conviction today. King thanked Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley before leaving the courtroom.

A spokesman says O’Malley is reviewing evidence with the Ohio Innocence Project, which has been working to free King since 2009, to determine if the case should be retried.

Innocence Project attorneys have argued that tests of some evidence taken from Crystal Hudson’s body after her death 1994 and material from her fingernails not tested until years later don’t match King’s DNA profile. An appeals court agreed.