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Chicago-area man exonerated after serving 10 years in prison

CHICAGO (AP) - A suburban Chicago man who spent the last 10 years in prison for murder has been released.

Marcel Brown of Oak Park was 18 when arrested in 2008 following a shooting at a Chicago park that left 19-year-old Paris Jackson dead. He was charged despite police determining Brown's 15-year-old cousin fired the shots. Authorities at the time said Brown was accountable because he drove him to the park.

Karen Daniel of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions says Brown was questioned by police for 34 hours until he made an untrue statement that was the basis of his conviction.

Daniel says the group's investigation determined Jackson was accidently killed by his friends.

Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Gainer last week granted Brown a new trial. Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all charges against Brown.

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