Georgia man released from prison after being wrongly convicted of murder

FLOYD COUNTY, Geor. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A Georgia man, who was wrongly convicted of murder and spent more than 20 years in prison, is officially a free man.

Joey Watkins was at a court hearing in January when a judge ordered Watkins to be released from prison, pending a new murder trial all because of new evidence.

But after the hearing, the prosecutor decided not to re-try Watkins, and on Thursday, the judge ordered the case dismissed.

Watkins was falsely accused of shooting a man in a pickup truck in 2000, supposedly in a dispute over a woman.

Living the rest of his life as a free man

But new evidence was uncovered. Cell phone records proved Watkins was miles away at the time of the shooting. Back in 2017, an attorney for the Georgia Innocence Project, Clare Gilbert, said the evidence was suppressed at the trial.

"There was scientific proof through the cell records that Joey could not have committed this crime, and they failed to disclose that or turn that over to the defense," Gilbert explained.

"He's spent a majority of his life in prison, and now he gets to live the rest of his life as a free man," said Noah Pines, an attorney based in Atlanta.

Watkins has always maintained his innocence.