Alice Sebold: US Author Who Put Black Man in Jail for 16 Years in 1981 Apologises After Conviction Overturned

• US author Alice Sebold has broken her silence and released an apology to the man, Anthony Broadwater, wrongfully convicted of assaulting her in 1981
• 61-year-old Broadwater saw himself exonerated of the crime following Sebold's memoir's success in landing a movie deal
• Broadwater's life was ruined after being jailed for 16 years and then being put on the sex offenders list after his release

Renowned US author Alice Sebold has apologised to the man who was wrongfully convicted of her 1981 assault. Anthony Broadwater is now 61 years old and spent 16 years in jail for the alleged crime and was put on the registered sex offender list upon release.

Broadwater's case was re-examined and overturned last week after two defence attorneys argued that the case was 'hopelessly flawed'. Sebold's memoir Lucky had just scored a movie deal and the executive producer Timothy Mucciante came across a few discrepancies.

Read also

Nollywood actor Ime Bishop Umoh loses mum, colleagues send condolence messages

He was concerned about this and hired a private detective to investigate the case. The detective passed the matter on to the two district attorneys. Since Broadwater's exoneration, Sebold's memoir's film adaption has been cancelled.

According to The Guardian, Sebold released a statement apologising for the part she played in the destruction of Broadwater's life. She referred to him as "another young black man" who was "brutalised" by the country's legal system.

A video shared by Syracruse.com of Broadwater's court case shows the elderly man speaking about his life. Broadwater maintained his innocence through the years and refused to have any children with his wife out of the fear that their lives would be made hell.

Social media users share numerous responses to the news:

@msdictator said:

"I hope Anthony Broadwater takes all of Alice Sebold’s money tbh."

Read also

He needs Christmas clothes: 56-year-old man who has been working as truck pusher for 30 years goes viral

@gabehudson shared:

"The Alice Sebold story is horrific & we know this happens to black men all the time & Mr. Broadwater had come home from the Marines to care for his ailing dad when he was falsely convicted & sent to prison. Alice Sebold owes Anthony Broadwater more than an apology."

@freeblackgirl tweeted:

"This is so devastating. If a movie producer hadn’t recognised the discrepancies in Alice Sebold’s story, Anthony Broadwater would’ve spent the remainder of his life with the stigma of being a sex offender. She owes him far more than a 'no comment'."

51-year-old man wrongly Jailed for 22 years becomes billionaire after being warded N9bn

Meanwhile, a man who spent 22 years in jail for a crime he did not commit finally has a reason to smile. US national, Eddie Bolden, wrongfully convicted in 1994 for a double murder, received a massive pay-out from a jury.

Read also

2021 in review: 4 brilliant Nigerian graduates who broke university records that looked impossible to shatter

The jury awarded him more than N9,923,291,764 in damages after he sued the city of Chicago and two police detectives.

Bolden was set free in 2016, two years after a court established that his trial attorney was ineffective.

Source: Legit.ng