A Michigan man who has served nearly four decades in prison for a crime he did not commit, insists he has no grudges and only looks forward to his newfound freedom.
Walter Forbes spends his first Christmas at home with loved ones since the early Reagan administration after his release in a deadly arson attack in 1982.
A key witness against Forbes admitted she lied in the stands, causing a judge to throw out his conviction and prosecutors chose not to try him again. He left Kinross prison on November 20 as a free man.
The mild-mannered Forbes said harboring any ill will would detract from a life he plans to enjoy for decades to come.
“Staying bitter would only rob me of my present and my future,” he told NBC News Friday.
The 63-year-old said he had never lost hope in all these years, believing that some court would one day believe in his innocence.
“Knowing I could, just knowing that” helped him stay sane while in custody, Forbes said.
Forbes was a student at Jackson Community College in 1982, where he studied drawing technology in the hope of a career in real estate development or construction.
One night, he broke out a fight outside a bar involving a Jackson resident, Dennis Hall, Forbes’ attorney Imran Syed, an assistant director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, said.
Hall, angry that someone would intervene in the brawl, is said to have shot and wounded Forbes the next day. That would prove to be a particularly painful moment for Forbes, as Hall died in arson a month later and the community college student was suddenly a prime suspect.
And when witness Annice Kennebrew, when a 19-year-old mother of two who was a distant relative of Hall, told investigators that she saw Forbes set the building on fire, that testimony proved crucial to his conviction.
For years, researchers and law students at the Michigan Innocence Clinic built a relationship with Kennebrew before admitting in a 2017 affidavit that she lied in the stands. The statute of limitations has long run up against a possible perjury case against her.
Kennebrew said in her testimony that she lied about seeing Forbes start the fire because two men threatened her with it.
“That man really sits there for nothing, for something he didn’t do and I’m old enough now to know better, you know?” Kennebrew told the judge to Jackson County, Thomas Wilson, on May 14.
“I wanted to do this, I’ve held it all these years and when the innocent people first came to me, I pushed them away, I denied them for years, I ignore those people for a long time, and then they again came back to me, I just went ahead and told them the truth. “
Syed said he believes the now-deceased owner of Hall’s building set off that deadly 1982 fire. The building’s owner was convicted of arson and insurance in 1990, according to Syed.
As an unjustly convicted inmate, Forbes must now be reimbursed $ 50,000 for each year spent in state prison. It’s a lengthy administrative process, and according to his attorney, he won’t likely see any money until mid-2021.
“Thirty-eight years is an incredibly long time. He’s lost most of his 20s, his full 30s, 40s, etc.,” said Syed, who took the case from Forbes just months after graduating from law school in 2011.
“When you think about all the things we accomplish in those eras of our lives, suddenly $ 1.8 million doesn’t sound like that much money. I don’t know if even $ 100 million or $ 200 million would be enough to get rid of the prime 40. years of your life. “
Forbes tentatively said he enjoys family time and is amazed at modern life, especially “the ease of communication and technology”.
He has an Android phone and an email address, has spoken to loved ones through video chat apps, is learning how to send text messages, and is weighing whether to give Facebook or Twitter a try.
When asked what he thought was the most stunning new element of 21st century America, a laughing Forbes blurted out, “This may seem strange, but weed is legal.”
The widespread legalization of recreational or medical marijuana today is a long way from the early 1980s, when Forbes was a young man and the first lady of the United States challenged young people to choose against drug use – particularly marijuana – and the her husband’s war on drugs.
“I remember, Nancy Reagan would say, ‘Just say no.’” Forbes said with a laugh.
President Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs just intensified as Forbes left for the deadly arson attack. It would have decades of impact on the lives of black Americans, with black people being arrested on marijuana at much higher rates than white people.
Even while he was away, seat belts became mandatory in every state – although Forbes said he’s still surprised every time a car reminds him to buckle up.
“I know what’s still on my mind is the seat belt alarm,” he said. “They go off if I don’t put it on: ‘Put on your seat belt.’ “