Judge overturns man’s 2003 murder conviction

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

A judge in Cleveland has vacated a 2003 murder conviction and set a man free after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed he wasn’t involved in the slaying.

The judge found Ru-El Sailor guilty of perjury and obstruction charges and sentenced him to time served. Sailor spent 15 years in prison.

No physical evidence was ever found connecting Sailor to the fatal shooting of Omar Clark during a confrontation in November 2002 over a marijuana cigarette laced with PCP.

An appeals court upheld Sailor’s conviction despite a witness declaring at his own sentencing that Sailor was innocent.