Nashville Man Wrongfully Convicted Of Murder By Arson Released From Prison Tuesday After Almost 30 Years Behind Bars

A Nashville man walked out of Riverbend Prison a free man on Tuesday, thirty years after he was wrongfully convicted of murdering his girlfriend by arson in 1992.  Claude Garrett had been behind bars for 29 years, all while maintaining his innocence.  At the time of the conviction, investigators concluded it was arson although both Garrett and his girlfriend Laurie Lance were in the house in Old Hickory when the fire began. The Innocence Project took up Garrett’s case which has since been reviewed by more than a dozen of the world’s leading fire experts who have opined that there is no evidence of arson at all.  The DA’s conviction review unit determined that Garrett should be released because there was no evidence of a crime.  A judge signed an order to vacate Garrett’s conviction and he was released from prison Tuesday afternoon.  Claude Garrett is now 65 years old. Garrett’s 34-year-old daughter, Deana Watson, told reporters her father does not even know how to use a cellphone because he has been in prison so long.