Innocent & Free After 36 Years in Prison

I walked out of prison on March 21, 2019 after serving 36 years in prison for a crime new fingerprint evidence proved I didn't commit. Now, I'm raising money to buy a car and get back on my feet.

I'm Archie Williams from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  I was wrongly convicted at age 22 and sentenced to life without parole.  I served 36 years in Angola prison for a crime I didn't commit before being officially exonerated.

I first wrote to the Innocence Project for help in 1995 when I was just 35 years old and 12 years into my wrongful imprisonment.  They took my case and fought alongside me for the next 24 years.  For two decades, my legal team, which also included the Innocence Project New Orleans, sought access to fingerprints from the crime scene to try to identify the person that left them.  When a judge finally ordered it, it took just 8 hours for the prints to be searched in the FBI's database and for them to be linked to the serial assailant who had actually committed the crime.  One week later, I walked out of prison.  

What sustained me over the three decades of my wrongful imprisonment was first and foremost my family, and also singing and boxing.  While at Angola, I coached the best boxing team in the prison's history, winning numerous Louisiana state titles.  

I also come from a family of singers. Here is a video clip of me singing in church in prison from the documentary "A Decade Behind Bars: Return to the Farm."  

My dream is to pursue a career as a boxing coach and singer.

Starting to fulfill my dreams

On April 10, 2019 -- less than three weeks after my exoneration -- I boarded a plane to Atlanta, Georgia to the national Innocence Network Conference where me and my family (my aunt, sisters and nieces who came with me) met over 200 other exonerated men and women and hundreds of other people working at innocence organizations throughout the country.  

It was overwhelming for me to take the stage with 41 other people who had been exonerated in the last year. Collectively we had served 1,003 years of wrongful imprisonment.  When I took the stage, I sang with my sister, Shelia, A Change Is Gonna Come.  I firmly believe the words of that song.  Change is going to come -- collectively, we can make a real difference.

In November 2019, I sang at the world-famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, and made it through three rounds of their Amateur Night competition. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and encouragement from the audience, fellow performers and the Apollo Theater staff.

While I was incarcerated, I watched America's Got Talent from prison and always dreamed of taking the stage one day. Just over a year after proving my innocence and being released from prison, my dream has come true! I flew to Los Angeles to audition for America's Got Talent, shared my story with the world, and was honored to be selected to move on to the next round! Hearing my story inspired Simon Cowell to become an Innocence Ambassador to help other wrongfully convicted people throughout the U.S.