Russ Feingold: “this Monday, Mr. Ray Krone walked out of an Arizona state prison a free man. In doing so, he became the 100th innocent…”

“this Monday, Mr. Ray Krone walked out of an Arizona state prison a free man. In doing so, he became the 100th innocent person to be released from death row in the modern death penalty--era that is, since the Supreme Court found the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. At about 5 pm on Monday, Krone ``traded his orange prison jumpsuit for blue jeans and a T-shirt,'' then walked away from a prison in Yuma, AZ, according to the Arizona Republic. Krone had spent the last 10 years of his life in prison for a crime it is now almost certain he did not commit. In 1992, Krone was sentenced to death for the gruesome sexual assault and murder of Kim Acona, a cocktail waitress at a Phoenix lounge. After his conviction was overturned on a technicality, Krone received a re-trial but was convicted again in 1996 and, this time, sentenced to life in prison. The key to his release was DNA testing that pointed not to Krone, but to Kenneth Phillips. It just so happens that Phillips is serving time in another Arizona prison for an unrelated sex crime. Prosecutors are now deciding whether to charge Phillips. ``There's tears in my eyes,'' Krone said upon his release. ``Your heart's beating. You can't hardly talk.''”