Man imprisoned for 2001 murder freed after conviction tossed

CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago man was freed from Stateville Correctional Center after the Cook County state's attorney's office announced the dropping of charges in a 2001 gang-related murder.

Norman McIntosh was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the shooting death of Devon Hobson and the wounding of Hobson's brother, James, as they walked along a South Side street with two relatives after robbing a rival gang member.

The decision to vacate the 37-year-old McIntosh's conviction came after he claimed in a petition police pressured several witnesses into identifying him as the shooter. All later recanted.

In court Tuesday, Assistant State's Attorney Celeste Stack did not give a reason for the decision to drop the charges against McIntosh. In her remarks, Judge Evelyn Clay apologized to McIntosh's family, saying "an injustice has been corrected."