A Chicago man who has spent nearly the last 30 years in prison for a 1988 fire that left two dead has been freed, the charges against him dropped.
Arthur Brown, now 66 years old, walked out of Cook County Jail late Tuesday.
Brown was 37 in 1988 when he was charged with arson and murder following a suspicious South Side fire. Despite proclaiming his innocence, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
In October though, Brown’s conviction was overturned and a retrial ordered after it was determined that prosecutors at a second trial in 2008 made false arguments to the jury.
Now, those prosecutors say evidence raised during the trial raised “deep concerns about the fairness of Mr. Brown’s conviction.”