Manslaughter verdict sees writer freed after 44 years
An award-winning black journalist, convicted of murder three times by all-white juries following the 1961 death of a bank clerk has been found guilty of manslaughter by a racially-mixed jury.
Wilbert Rideau, a confessed killer who gained fame for exposés of harsh Louisiana prison life, won his freedom yesterday after 44 years in Louisiana prisons. A manslaughter conviction allows his release for time already served.
