RICKY JACKSON GETTING OUT OF AN OHIO PRISON AFTER 39 YEARS — Transcript

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1. 0:00well a Cleveland man will soon be free
2. 0:02from prison 39 years after he was
3. 0:04falsely accused of murder Scott Taylor
4. 0:07is live at five with the story
5. 0:10Scott if it wasn't for the Cleveland
6. 0:13Scene and a very talented reporter by
7. 0:15the name of Kyle swensson Ricky Jackson
8. 0:18would probably have spent the rest of
9. 0:20his life locked up you're on the street
10. 0:22near where a Salesman by the name of
11. 0:24Harold Franks was murdered in Cleveland
12. 0:26back in 1975 Eddie Vernon a 13 year-old
13. 0:30boy told police he saw Ricky Jackson and
14. 0:33Ronnie Bridgeman attack Franks then jump
15. 0:35in a car with Ronnie's brother Wy all
16. 0:38three convicted and sent to prison fast
17. 0:41forward to 2011 the Cleveland Scene and
18. 0:44reporter Kyle Swanson dug deep into the
19. 0:4736-year-old murder case and started
20. 0:50asking tough questions it was pretty
21. 0:52dramatic uh it was kind of a little bit
22. 0:54hard to believe that this had all
23. 0:56happened Swenson discovered conflicting
24. 0:58views in the neighborhood with Vernon's
25. 0:59test
26. 1:00the Ohio Innocence Project got involved
27. 1:03based on the 2011 article and this week
28. 1:06prosecutors dropped all charges against
29. 1:08Ricky Jackson the key to it all Eddie
30. 1:11Veron finally admitted in court he was
31. 1:14lying he never saw the three men he
32. 1:16blames police pressure back in 1975 for
33. 1:19not telling the truth Kyle swensson in
34. 1:22the courtroom when Ricky Jackson got the
35. 1:24news he uh began to cry um he had his
36. 1:28hands up on the table table um and he
37. 1:31had his face buried in his hands you
38. 1:33know he was manacled so he was uh you
39. 1:36know kind of like this uh he was very
40. 1:38very emotional Wy Bridgeman still in
41. 1:40jail his brother Ronnie paroled in 2003
42. 1:43on Friday Ricky Jackson walks out of
43. 1:46prison a free man at the age of 59 years
44. 1:50old these aren't men who are bitter or
45. 1:52angry I think they've just um really
46. 1:55maintained their dignity through all
47. 1:57this which is pretty incredible
48. 2:01Kyle Swenson now working down in Miami
49. 2:04with a paper and Jackson has told the
50. 2:08Cleveland Scene that he understands what
51. 2:09that 13-year-old boy went through back
52. 2:11in 1975 and isn't angry at the grown man
53. 2:15and that is amazing on Friday Ricky
54. 2:17Jackson walking out those front doors
55. 2:20behind me at the Justice Center live in
56. 2:22Cleveland Scott Taylor 19 etion News