Darryl Howard walks out of North Carolina court a free man after conviction for double-homicide is overturned

The release of Darryl Howard is a victory for the Innocence Project

Darryl Howard hugs Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project after the ruling (AP)

A North Carolina man has walked free after spending 21 years behind bars for a double murder that new DNA evidence clearly indicated he did not commit.

“I'm going home,” Darryl Anthony Howard told supporters as he left a Durham courthouse moments after Judge Orlando Hudson threw out a double-murder conviction and ordered a new trial for him.

The tossing of the conviction came after new DNA evidence surfaced that was not available when Mr Howard, 54, was originally convicted on two counts of second-degree murder in 1995 for the 1991 murders of Doris Washington and her 13-year-old daughter, Nishonda.

“You always have to have faith,” Mr Howard said as he prepared to reclaim his life as a free man. “You always got to keep fighting. It took a long time to get to this point.” The Durham prosecutor’s office said it would not appeal Judge Hudson’s ruling.

“A reasonable juror would find beyond reasonable doubt that here is a reasonable doubt to the guilt of Darryl Howard in these cases,“ Judge Hudson said.

Mr Hudson had always insisted upon his innocence. His battle for attention began to gain traction in 2012 when researchers with the Innocence Project, which is dedicated to freeing people who have been incarcerated wrongfully, interviewed another man about his relationship with Ms Washington and her daughter.

The man, Jermeck Jones, was brought to testify in evidentiary hearings this week. A lawyer for the Innocence Project submitted DNA evidence he said linked Mr Jones to the murder scene. Asked why his sperm had been found in the mother after her murder, he invoked his 5th amendment right not to respond.

“We are grateful that Judge Hudson ruled to release Mr. Howard, but this miscarriage of justice stole precious years of Mr. Howard’s life, and there is no way to return that lost time. The only silver lining here is that this was not a capital conviction, because, had it been, Mr. Howard, an innocent man, might not be here today,” said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project.

At the time of the trial, prosecutors built a case against Mr Howard that relied on testimony from witnesses, including claims that he had had an argument with the mother some time before her death. The case was never investigated as a sexual crime, even though there was evidence in both naked bodies of the women of sexual aggression.

“I am elated that Mr. Howard will be released for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. He had significant battles in order to achieve justice. It took far too long to arrive at where we are today. I am hopeful that the DA’s office will not re-try the case,” said Seema Saifee, a staff attorney with the Innocence Project, who worked on Howard’s case.