GASTON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - A man who has served 23 years in prison for raping a Hickory woman walked free Monday from a Gaston County facility.
"Oh, it makes me feel a whole lot better," says Willie Grimes about being out of prison and not having to go back.
He stood outside his new home in Gastonia saying he couldn't wait to eat a good meal.
Grimes is 65-years-old. He was convicted of raping and kidnapping a 69-year-old woman in 1987. Grimes and his attorneys have always maintained his innocence. In April, the NC Innocence Commission reviewed his case.
Grimes told WBTV's Sharon Smith that he is excited and nervous about being out of prison. He said he almost went crazy the first five years he was in prison because he knew he was innocent.
He says he does not feel completely free even now, because his name is on the sex offender registry.
"Clear my name is the most important thing in my life," he says. "That's the one thing I got is my name," says Grimes.
His attorney, Chris Mumma, says the victim's identification of her attacker was always in question. She says the rape kit was destroyed without court order and a fingerprint on a piece of fruit found at the crime scene was linked to someone else police questioned 25 years ago.
Now the North Carolina Innocence Commission has sent the case to a three-judge panel for further review.
If the panel overturns the conviction, Grimes would be compensated by the state.
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