Chicago: A former Black Panther activist who spent a record 43 years in solitary confinement was freed from a US prison after decades of legal battle to prove his innocence.
<img title="Albert Woodfox. Pic/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/feb/21-Albert-Woodfox.jpg" alt="Albert Woodfox. Pic/AFP" /> Albert Woodfox. Pic/AFP
Albert Woodfox is the last of the &lsquo;Angola Three&rsquo; activists to taste freedom in a case which provoked outrage among rights groups.
A federal judge had ordered Woodfox&rsquo;s unconditional release in June in a strongly-worded ruling that barred any further trial on charges of murdering prison guard Brent Miller.
Woodfox twice managed to overturn his conviction for the crime, but Louisiana&rsquo;s attorney general had been determined to pursue a third trial and managed to bar Woodfox&rsquo;s release on appeal.
He won his freedom Friday by pleading &lsquo;no contest&rsquo; to two lesser charges in a deal which allowed him to be released on his 69th birthday.
"Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release with this no-contest plea to lesser charges," Woodfox said in a statement.
"I hope the events of today will bring closure to many."
The plea is not an admission of guilt but instead a legal maneuver in which he "does not contest that the State would present as evidence at a new trial from witnesses who said he committed this crime," his lawyer said.

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Former Black Panther activist has spent a record 43 years in solitary confinement

US man tastes freedom after 43 years

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US man tastes freedom after 43 years

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