(AP) - A Minnesota man wrongly convicted of murder who spent nearly three decades in prison after being falsely implicated by a woman who has since confessed to the crime was released Thursday.

State District Court Judge Marta Chou had vacated Bryan Hooper Sr.’s first-degree murder conviction the day before. He was released Thursday morning from Stillwater Correctional Facility, a Great North Innocence Project spokesperson said.

“Today, the courts have affirmed what Bryan Hooper, his family, his loved ones, and his advocates have always known: Mr. Hooper is an innocent man,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. “It is our duty as prosecutors to hold the correct individuals responsible for their actions, and that duty demands that we acknowledge our mistakes and

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