Queens prosecutors are fuming after they reluctantly agreed to drop murder charges against a New York City man jailed 13 years for a fatal stabbing he says he didn't commit.
A judge on Friday told former prisoner Kareem Bellamy that he was free to resume his life following the slow collapse of the case.
The 44-year-old cried and hugged two former investigators who had worked to clear his name.
Meanwhile, prosecutors say they still believe Bellamy is guilty.
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He was initially freed from prison in 2008 after his lawyers produced a tape of another man confessing to 1994 killing.
That recording was later revealed to be a fake, but an appeals court said Bellamy still deserved a new trial.
Prosecutors said a technicality prevented them from retrying Bellamy.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
