Dallas man spends his first Labor Day as an innocent man in 36 years

For the first time in 36 Labor Days, a man from Dallas is free of any stigma that he's a criminal.

A little more than three years ago, someone in the Public Integrity Unit of the Dallas County DA's office listened to Ben Spencer's lawyers.

They cracked open a file and determined he was not an armed robber, but a man wrongly convicted. He was released from jail in 2021, but it wasn't until Thursday that a judge acquitted the 59-year-old man, clearing his name. Spencer says he has spent the last three and a half years trying to catch up on three and a half decades of missing life with his son.

Though he had been out of jail, Spencer still had to adhere to rules while waiting for dismissal; Rules like asking a judge if he could travel. Now he goes where he wants when he pleases.

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