An innocent man’s lifetime in prison

Richard Phillips spent more time behind bars than any other wrongfully imprisoned person in American history, said Liv Kiely and Marlena Baldacci in CNN.com. The former Detroit autoworker went to prison 45 years ago after being convicted for the murder of Gregory Harris, who was dragged from his car and shot to death. Phillips, now 71, was exonerated last month after one of his alleged accomplices admitted to a parole board that he had lied, and that Phillips had nothing to do with it. “I am not bitter,” Phillips says. “I was upset at first, but mistakes happen in this world. No life is perfect. Everybody has problems. It would be unimaginable for me to be upset because I had problems, because everybody has them.” Phillips says he’s been amazed at the changes that have taken place since his imprisonment in 1972. “When I left the streets, if there were any phones at all, they were these big boot-like portable phones,” he says. “We didn’t have all these gadgets.” Phillips now hopes that his two children, who were ages 4 and 2 when he went to prison, will see his story and find him. “I’m so happy to be free, I’ll make any adjustment I have to make.”