Darien Harris Is Finally Free After Being Wrongfully Convicted In Murder Case

Darien Harris was 18 years old when Chicago police arrested him on homicide charges.Due to the false testimony of a blind man, Harris, a first-time offender, was charged as the shooter in a murder case. Star witness Dexter Saffold lied about his vision impairment on the stand, resulting in Harris receiving a 76-year sentence.“I feel like mentally and emotionally there are parts of myself that I can’t get back,” Harris said in an interview with The Defender. Harris spoke about the abuse he endured while imprisoned in Cook County Jail.He described inhumane treatment like being dragged away from security cameras for frequent beatings, a continuous lack of clean drinking water, punishment for requesting mental health services, mail tampering and long-term confinement in a cage for 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Harris says his stint was “horrendous.”“You are disconnected from the whole world, no family, no friends, and you feel hopeless like nobody cares,” Harris reflected. Last year, Harris regained his freedom after 12 years with the help of lawyer Lauren Myerscough-Mueller.“The system is very much set up to uphold conviction and finality,” Myerscough-Mueller told the Defender. “It’s difficult to get [convictions] overturned and to get prosecutors...