USA - Texas. Judge Andy Chatham formally declared Richard Miles, 36, black, innocent

State District Judge Andy Chatham formally declared Richard Miles, 36, black, innocent of a 1995 murder for which he spent 14 years in prison. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last week determined that "actual innocence" existed in Miles' case -- a rare declaration for someone exonerated without the help of DNA evidence. Miles has been free on his own recognizance since a judge recommended he be declared innocent in October 2009. With a declaration of innocence, the 36-year-old Miles will be fully cleared of the crime and can apply for state compensation for wrongfully imprisoned inmates. Miles was sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted of the murder of Deandre S. Williams and the attempted murder of another man. Miles was released after an advocacy group found evidence implicating another man in the murder hadn't been turned over to Miles' attorneys before trial.