A Michigan man with every right to be bitter, angry and disenfranchised by a system that did him wrong gave all the glory to God when he was released from prison after spending three decades unjustly locked up.
A man gives glory to God after spending 32 years in prison unjustly and being declared free
Gilbert Poole Jr, now 56, was convicted of first-degree murder in 1988 for the death of Robert Mejia, a man who was stabbed.
The victim suffered several stab wounds to his body, some to the face, others to the neck and chest, but the murder weapon was not linked to Poole.
Poole’s then-girlfriend had told the officers handling the case that on the night of the murder, he had argued with her and then left her house “to get some money.”
In fact she claimed that he returned later and confessed to killing a guy while robbing him….
Poole denied it, and in the absence of DNA evidence at the time, the police had a murder victim and the words of a witness who had apparently given them a suspect and a motive.
In 2016, the group ran DNA tests at the crime scene and matched them to the man who had been sentenced to life in prison.
When the results came back, Poole was eliminated for leaving evidence at the crime scene when it was determined that the DNA found on Mejas’ body came from an unknown source, but was not Poole’s.
All the state had was a bite mark, which is a type of evidence now rarely trusted by forensic experts.
“Someone else got into a fight with Robert in the woods that night and someone else was the one who killed him,” said Michigan prosecutor Robyn Frankel.
On the recommendation of state Attorney General Dana Nessel, the judge officially exonerated Poole during Wednesday’s hearing.
When the man spoke, he humbly thanked God and credited his faith for helping him overcome the nightmare.
He never stopped trying to convince the state of his innocence and, after surrendering to God, his perseverance in faith led him down a path that brought him back to life and cleared his name.
