Judge rules wrongful conviction, Philadelphia man coming home after 44 years behind bars

A Philadelphia man is coming home soon after spending more than four decades behind bars.

A judge ruled on Wednesday that he was wrongfully convicted after being the victim of dirty police work.

The family spoke with NBC10 about William Franklin being released.

In 1980, Franklin was convicted of murder in Philadelphia but on Wednesday a judge vacated his conviction.

This means that Franklin is considered an innocent man and will be coming home.

"Today means everything. I'm in shock," his daughter Lisa Justice said. "I'm in awe. I don't think I can really express it. Just seeing the day come is surreal."

His daughters were just kids when he went to prison 44 years ago.

Now, they're all grown up and they say it was prayer that kept them strong.

"I trust God but to see it, that's a whole other level," Justice said. "It's a whole other level of trust in God to live long enough to see it. I was seven years old when he left. I'll be 53 in June. But, we never gave up."

The family stuck together as Franklin spent most of his time at SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County.

"I would want to say I'm angry but I know better. He was not home to see us grow up," Justice explained. "We didn't have a graduation with our dad. He couldn't walk us down our wedding. He couldn't be there for the birth of our children. I feel like we lost those things."

Franklin was 33 years old when he went to prison and he'll now be 77 when he's home again.

"We want everybody to know who might have experienced this, have gone through this to try Jesus first and then come get you some good people that will help you," Justice said.

Those good people are Joseph Marrone and his law firm team. They have spent years looking into Franklin's case.

"The harder we dug, the better the case got. And we found out this case was part of an ongoing scandal in Philadelphia called the Sex for Lie scandal where there were a lot of bad detectives out there that would coerce witnesses to lie in exchange for sexual favors and this was at the core of it," Marrone said.

On Wednesday, a judge decided that Franklin was wrongfully convicted and granted a new trial.

The murder charge still stands, but Franklin was granted bail as the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will now decide to retry the case or drop the charges.

"We are looking forward," his daughter Sherri Griffin said. "We don't want to make up anything because what's past is past. But, going forward, any amount of time he has left, that's what we want to embrace."

A family that is looking forward to a bright future with their father by their side.