Reprieve frees Iowa prison inmate after nearly 26 years

CLARINDA, Iowa -- A man who spent nearly 26 years in prison on a recently overturned murder conviction walked out of state prison Thursday after Gov. Tom Vilsack signed a reprieve.

Terry Harrington's relatives met him at the Clarinda Correctional Facility and had a Humvee stretch limousine waiting to take him to the family's home in Omaha, Neb.

"Oh God, it's good," Harrington, 44, said as he stepped outside. "It's so good. Thank you, Jesus."

He thanked his lawyers, the parole board and Vilsack for the reprieve, a temporary order sometimes issued to postpone executions but especially rare in Iowa, which does not have the death penalty.

Harrington was a teenager when he was convicted in the 1977 shooting death of John Schweer, a retired Council Bluffs police officer working as a security guard at a local car dealership.

New evidence plays role

The Iowa Supreme Court overturned Harrington's conviction in February, based on new evidence that prosecutors withheld police reports pointing to another suspect and that the state's key witness had recanted his testimony.

Inmates usually are freed in such cases while prosecutors determine whether to seek a new trial. Harrington, however, had remained in prison because the attorney general's office had challenged language in the ruling that did not directly affect Harrington's case, but could affect others.

Vilsack, who learned this month that Harrington was still in prison, asked the Iowa Board of Parole to review the case, writing that the inmate "has seemingly been placed in bureaucratic limbo." The governor signed the reprieve after the board recommended it Thursday.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matthew D. Wilber said he was disappointed the governor chose to interject himself in the case, and added that prosecutors intend to retry Harrington.