Louisiana man freed from life sentence, cleared in 1979 rape

GRETNA, La. (AP) — A Louisiana man imprisoned for nearly four decades walked free Tuesday after his conviction in a 1979 rape was thrown out and prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charge.

Malcolm Alexander, 58, sat quietly and smiled broadly as friends and relatives applauded and cried after state District Judge June Darensburg ordered his release. Roughly two hours later, he walked out of the Jefferson Parish jail in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna.

Defense lawyers argued that Alexander's trial lawyer failed to point out that the victim had been doubtful when she identified Alexander as her attacker in 1979. Darensburg threw out the conviction based on the ineffective counsel argument.