A Tennessee man has been exonerated after being imprisoned for 15 years for a murder that he didn't commit.
A judge ruled that Joseph Webster had been wrongly convicted of murder after a four year legal battle by his committed attorney.
The Davidson Country District Attorney's Office said that it 'no longer has confidence in the conviction against Mr. Webster', dismissing the charges made against him.
He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder after Leroy Owens was killed in 1998. Court documents state that the deceased was at a friend's house when two men arrived and began to beat him over what was believed to be a drug debt.
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The documents state that Owens escaped, with a missing shoe, before running to another resident's home.
They asked Owens, who was said to be bruised and scared, if he would leave.
He attempted to leave but the men caught up with him, before beating him to death with a cinder block.
At the time, witnesses identified the man who killed Owens as Webster. As reported by Fox 17, another witness identified the killer as a man of about 160 pounds, with no distinguishable features.
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However, witness Tammy Nelson picked Webster out of a photo line-up.
But even members of Owens' own family told the police that a relative actually admitted to killing him.
Court documents state that a car was then found which was owned by the relative who admitted to the murder.
One of the witnesses who had said that Webster was the perpetrator then saw a photo of Owens' relative and said that it was he who she had actually seen commit the killing - not Webster.
A hearing took place on Tuesday which eventually exonerated Webster, clearing him of all wrongdoing and confirming his release from prison.
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Court documents read: "The State and defence counsel submit that evidence not previously presented to the jury or to the Court indicates another individual committed the murder of Leroy Owens."
A statement from Webster's attorney Daniel Horwitz read: "After a decade and a half in prison for a murder that he did not commit, I am overjoyed that Joseph Webster's wrongful conviction will finally be overturned.
"Mr Webster is also thinking of the entire Owens family at this time, which has to process the painful news of learning that the wrong person was convicted of committing this brutal murder."
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