Florida- A man who spent 18 years in prison is freed after DNA test proves he was not guilty.

Derrick Williams of Palmetto walked out the front door of a rural prison Monday night and into the waiting arms of his family, who belted out gospel hymns to celebrate the release of a man now free after spending 18 years behind bars.

"Now this is love," said Williams, 48, as he walked out of Hardee County Correctional Institution as a free man, his rape conviction and life prison term vacated on the strength of newly discovered DNA evidence.

On Monday morning, none of Williams' backers, nor Williams himself, expected to be there, hugging in a dark prison parking lot. But prosecutors who had tried to uphold his conviction and sentence reversed course Monday morning and decided not to retry Williams in a 1992 rape, sending his family and attorneys scrambling to prepare for his release.

Twelve other prisoners in Florida – and another 243 nationwide – have been exonerated based on DNA evidence, which has advanced in the years since Williams went to prison to allow testing on hair and even degraded substances, according to the Innocence Project.


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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110404/ARTICLE/110409819/2416/NEWS?Title=DNA-evidence-frees-man-after-18-years-in-prison