Man convicted of rape 44 years ago claiming innocence may see freedom
CABARRUS COUNTY, NC (WSOC) — Ronnie Long, who has been behind bars since 1976, has been fighting for his freedom after he was found guilty in a Cabarrus County courtroom for rape.
At 19-years-old, he was sentenced to two life terms. That was eventually reduced to an 80 year sentence, but he has always maintained his innocence and believes Concord police set him up.
“They know what they did to me,” Long said. “They know they set me up. They know they framed me, and people will know the truth before this whole incident is over with.”
Now, he may have a fighting chance for life on the outside. His case was heard Thursday by a 15-judge panel in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
“This is the biggest step that I’ve had since I’ve been incarcerated,” he said.
Jamie Lau is Long’s attorney and is the Supervising Attorney for the Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic. He represented Long before the panel and argued that police officers deliberately withheld evidence from the Cabarrus County District Attorney’s Office that likely would have led them to not consider Long a suspect.
“Officers lied repeatedly during his trial,” Lau said. “Evidence that would have undercut the arguments made by the state was hid from Long during the course of his trial, and that evidence also pointed toward someone else as the assailant.”
He pointed out that a rape test kit vanished after Concord Police investigators received it from the hospital, and suspect hair samples, along with other pieces of physical evidence, didn’t match Long.
Long’s wife, Ashleigh Long, said she spends every minute of every day seeking justice for her husband.
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