Cleared Inmate Ties the Knot

The Associated Press, September 18, 2004

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- Clarence Harrison spent nearly 18 years in a prison cell for a crime he didn't commit.

It only took him another 18 days to walk down the aisle and say, "I do."

Harrison, cleared of rape charges after new DNA evidence proved he was not guilty, married longtime finance Yvonne Zellars on Saturday in front of about 250 friends, family members and well-wishers -- including the team of lawyers hat helped set him free.

"Clarence spent 18 years in there for something he didn't do, and now he's fulfilling another dream of his," said Lisa George, spokeswoman for the Georgia Innocence Project. "We're just
overjoyed."

Both the bride and groom declined interview requests Saturday, saying they wanted to enjoy the day.

Family members called the wedding nothing short of a miracle. "

We always held onto the hope," said Rosemary Spencer, of Atlanta, Harrison's sister-in-law. "Sometimes we were down, but we kept praying."

Harrison was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 on charges of sexually assaulting a hospital worker.

But lawyers with the Innocence Project took on his case last year. Evidence stashed in an old box provided DNA that -- with new technology -- was able to prove Harrison could not have committed the crimes.

He spent 17 years and nine months behind bars.

Harrison met Zellars in a telephone conversation arranged by another inmate.

She agreed to counsel him about religion and he credits her with pushing him to continue working to prove his innocence.

He proposed to her six years ago, after about a year of letters and prison visits.

On Aug. 31, the day he was released, Harrison again vowed that he planned to marry Zellars.

At first, he thought he would have to wait until he got a job and was able to raise some money.

But volunteers stepped forward to make the wedding happen sooner.

A bridal shop offered to oversee the arrangements. Other donors offered rings, dresses and cakes to the couple, which had an old-fashioned covered dish reception after the church ceremony.

Both Harrison and Zellars wore white for the ceremony, at Straight Life Church of God in DeKalb County, east of Atlanta.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)