Man sentenced to death penalty released

BOSTON, Massachusetts - One of the last men to face the death penalty in Massachusetts walked out of a courtroom to freedom Thursday, 30 years after he was imprisoned for murdering a transit worker.

 Laurence Adams, 51, was released on his own recognizance following a judge's decision last month to overturn his conviction. He said he harbors no grudge against prosecutors and police who put him in prison.

 "You can't be bitter because you can't stop the clock," he said. "I did what I had to do in the circumstances in which I was placed. I did everything positive, and I hoped for this day."

 Adams was sentenced to the electric chair in 1974, but the state's capital punishment law was abolished soon after.

 He asked for a new trial seven years ago after police documents surfaced casting doubt on his guilt, including a statement from a witness who said two other people committed the murder.

 Superior Court Judge Robert A. Mulligan vacated the conviction to "avoid a miscarriage of justice."

 Prosecutors have until Monday to either ask for the charges to be dismissed or appeal Mulligan's decision. A spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said the office has not yet decided upon a response.

 Adams said his immediate plans include going fishing and taking a bath, something he has not done in 30 years.

 He was 21 when he was convicted of killing James Corry, a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority worker, on November 27, 1972, during a robbery of cash boxes in a downtown Boston subway station.

Adams' attorney, John J. Barter, also found that the state's star witness had changed his story several times. Another witness recanted her testimony before she died.

 Laurence Adams walks away from the Suffolk Superior Court with his mother, Mary Adams in Boston, Massachusetts.