A Minneapolis man's exoneration is highlighting justice reform efforts in Hennepin County.
After nearly three decades in prison, Brian Hooper was exonerated after a key trial witness confessed to the crime during an investigation by the county's Conviction Integrity Unit.
Hooper expressed gratitude for his family and all those who fought for his release.
"I can't begin to explain what it felt like to be sent to prison for a crime you didn't commit, but I knew one thing," he said. "That I was never going to stop fighting for my freedom."
County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who created the unit, will not seek re-election, leaving the future of these reforms up in the air.
But in the meantime, the office will continue to review other cases similar to Hooper's.
Hooper, who was convicted of murder in 1998, is now free after a key witness who had testified against him recanted her statement.
This case marks the third wrongful conviction overturned by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office in the past two and a half years.
"As prosecutors, it is our job, it is our duty, to be ministers of justice and to right these past wrongs," Moriarty added. "And I'm hopeful that the reforms we have implemented will guard against wrongful convictions in the future."