Tavares Hutchinson was sentenced to life in prison based on one man’s claim that he robbed him of his wedding ring and gold necklace in 1999.

The wedding ring was never found. Neither was a gun. But a Broward jury convicted the 23-year-old of robbery with a weapon, a crime he has always maintained he did not commit. Then, about midnight Friday, after more than 26 years behind bars, the now-49-year-old walked out of the Broward Main Jail as a free man.

Asked how he was feeling Saturday afternoon, Hutchinson told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “Winning.”

“I’m just happy to be free,” he said.

For years, Hutchinson had fought his sentence from prison unsuccessfully. Then, in February 2024, he asked the Broward State Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Unit to review his case. An investiga

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