1995 murder charges dropped against "East Cleveland Three"
CLEVELAND -- Charges against a trio of men convicted and imprisoned for a 1995 murder were dismissed Monday morning, reports CBS affiliate WOIO.
The men, known as the "East Cleveland Three," were convicted in 1996 for the shooting of Clifton Hudson in East Cleveland.
Derrick Wheat, Eugene Johnson and Laurese Glover submitted numerous appeals during their two decades in prison. The men were found guilty largely based a young witness who changed her mind years later.
In 2004, the then-14-year-old girl said Wheat, Johnson and Glover weren't the men she saw kill Hudson. All three were serving 15 years-to-life for his murder. Johnson and Wheat were given an additional three-year term because a gun was involved.
They were finally released on bond in March 2015, after Cuyahoga County Pleas Judge Nancy Russo determined that there was "sufficient evidence of suppression" in the original handling of the trial.
In May of this year, the Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled that the men should get a new trial. A motion was filed in June to dismiss all charges.