LaMonte Armstrong is trying to put his life back together. However, freedom has not come easily.
Armstrong was released at the end of June after a judge threw out his murder conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct. He was originally implicated by a police informant who testified that he had witnessed the crime. However, according to the brief filed by Duke Law School’s Wrongful Conviction Clinic, the prosecution never disclosed several witness statements that said they saw the victim alive several days after the informant claimed to have seen her killed.
Police also re-tested a palm print from the crime scene and matched it to Christopher Caviness, who had been a suspect early in the investigation. Caviness went to prison for killing his father a year after Armstrong was wrongfully convicted. He has since died.
Due to the recent changes to North Carolina’s compensation law, Armstrong will need a pardon from the governor in order to be eligible for compensation funds. Now Armstrong, 62, faces an uncertain future. He is currently living in a halfway house and trying to find a job as a drug counselor. Armstrong told the Huffington Post, “I’m confused, lost and little bit fearful of the unknown. I wasn’t ready to get out of prison….”
Many exonerees face difficulties re-entering society after years in prison. Watch NCIP exoneree Maurice Caldwell discuss his struggles with life after exoneration here.
Read more about LaMonte Armstrong here.
