RALEIGH, N.C. – Two men are planning to ask for pardons after they were freed this week from prison following the discovery of evidence that they didn't kill a young girl 30 years ago.
Vernetta Alston, an attorney for Henry McCollum, says lawyers representing him and his half brother, Leon Brown, are preparing petitions for a pardon of innocence and plan to file within the next couple of weeks.
Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement that he was happy their convictions were vacated and that he was prepared to receive their pardon request.
This week, a judge ordered that Brown and McCollum be released, citing new DNA evidence in the 1983 slaying of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie that indicates she was killed by another man.
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