Wrongfully convicted NC man freed from prison after 44 years

Ronnie Wallace Long hugged his wife and a crowd of supporters outside Albemarle Correctional Institution in Stanly County.

Long was a 20-year-old Black man living in Concord when he was accused of raping a white woman in 1976. He was convicted by an all-white jury that included members who have had connections to the victim, and was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

Long’s attorneys have said that more than 40 fingerprints collected from the rape scene were never shared and did not match Long’s. Semen samples also were never disclosed to the defense. They later disappeared.

Long, who was represented by the Duke University School of Law's Wrongful Convictions Clinic, asked for a review of his conviction.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Long a new hearing on Monday, sending the case back to a federal court in North Carolina. Writing for the majority of 4th Circuit judges who approved the new hearing, Judge Stephanie Thacker criticized North Carolina for defending Long’s conviction despite the possibility that investigators withheld evidence.

The state Attorney General's Office on Wednesday filed a motion consenting to the federal court issuing a writ of habeas corpus in the case immediately, which would vacate Long's conviction.

The court did so on Thursday and ordered that Long be released by Friday.