Charges against a Mississippi man who already spent 23 years in jail and was tried six times for quadruple murder have been dropped by US prosecutors.
50-year-old Curtis Flowers served more than 20 years in prison for a 1996 quadruple murder despite maintaining his innocence.
“I am finally free from the injustice that left me locked in a box for 23 years,” Flowers said in a statement after the dismissal.
“I’ve been asked if I ever thought this day would come. I have been blessed with a family that never gave up on me and with them by my side, I knew it would.”
According to CNN, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the indictments.
Prosecutors wrote in the motion: “As the evidence stands today, there’s no key prosecution witness that incriminates Mr. Flowers who is alive and available and has not had multiple, conflicting statements in the record.”
Flowers, a former Tardy furniture employee, was accused of murdering four people.
The victims of the Winona, Mississippi shooting were Tardy Furniture owner Bertha Tardy, 59, and three employes, Derrick Stewart, 16, Robert Golden, 42, and Carmen Rigby, 45.
Flowers was alleged to have shot the owner as payback for firing him and docking in pay over damaged batteries, taking the lives of other employees to get rid of witnesses.
Rob McDuff, one of Flowers’ lawyers, said: “The case against Curtis Flowers never made sense. He was 26 years old with no criminal record and nothing in his history to suggest he would commit a crime like this. As time went by, even more evidence emerged to corroborate his innocence.”
Flowers was jailed for 23 years and faced six murder trials. His first three convictions, two resulted in death sentences, were overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The next two trials were ended in hung juries.
After his 2010 trial, a Montgomery County jury found Flowers guilty and he was sentenced to death.
Flowers’ attorney appealed the case and in 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled he deserved a new trial as Doug Evans, state’s lead prosecutor, had engaged in unconstitutional racial discrimination by striking African American jurors from the panel.
McDuff said: “This prosecution was flawed from the beginning and was tainted throughout by racial discrimination. It should never have occurred and lasted far too long, but we are glad it is finally over.”
Flowers’ family said they felt blessed and happy as the weight ‘has been finally lifted’ from Flowers’ shoulders.
The family said in a statement: “We have prayed for this day and are looking forward to the future knowing that our brother will not be going back to prison. We know our Mom is looking down and our only wish is that she could have been here to welcome Curtis home.”
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Replaced!