A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for a fatal shooting that he didn't commit is taking legal action after learning that a key witness was blind.
Darien Harris is a free man after serving 12 years of a 76-year sentence.
At 18, Harris was a high school senior when he was arrested and identified from a police lineup in 2011 for a fatal shooting at a gas station in South Side Chicago.
In 2014, he was convicted and handed a life sentence. However, significant doubt loomed over the case.
According to the Chicago Tribune, a crucial eyewitness who identified Harris as the shooter was legally blind.
The witness, Dexter Saffold, who claimed to have been near the gas station on his motorized scooter when he heard gunshots, testified that he saw Harris holding a gun.
Despite this claim, a gas station attendant stated that Harris was not the shooter. Nevertheless, the eyewitness testimony was pivotal in Harris' conviction.
Harris' freedom was secured by The Exoneration Project, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to overturning wrongful convictions.
Since its inception in 2009, the organization has aided over 200 individuals. In December 2023, they succeeded in getting Harris released.
The Exoneration Project revealed that the prosecution's key eyewitness had lied about his vision.
Court records demonstrated that the witness, who denied any vision issues during the trial, had been declared legally blind with advanced glaucoma nine years before the lineup.
Now 31, Harris has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago and the police department, alleging police misconduct, including evidence fabrication and coercion of false statements.
Harris, who spent his entire adult life behind bars, is now grappling with reintegration into society.
"I don't have any financial help. I'm still [treated like] a felon, so I can't get a good job. It's hard for me to get into school," he told the Tribune.
"I've been so lost," Harris continued. "I feel like they took a piece of me that is hard for me to get back."
.jpg_XtWTpq?tr=w-1024,cr-0.0.1024.686&config=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)
"Justice is supposed to be blind. The eyewitness is not supposed to be blind," said Harris' lawyer, Lauren Myerscough-Mueller. "That is not how the justice system is supposed to work."
In 2019, with the help of another inmate and some research, Harris uncovered the truth about Saffold's vision.
In a CBS interview that year, Saffold confirmed his legal blindness due to glaucoma. "They didn't do anything wrong because they didn't know," Saffold said of the prosecutors. "I didn't have to tell nobody about my medical history."
Harris's mother, Nakesha Harris, described her son's release as "the best Christmas gift ever," per BBC News.
She added: "I feel like I'm dreaming. It doesn't feel real. I guess once I hold him in my arms, it'll be real."
Harris now plans to attend law school to help others who have been wrongfully convicted. "He has had to grow up largely in prison, but he has remained so positive," said Myerscough-Mueller.
