A man who spent 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit is free. Stanley Wrice says Chicago police beat a confession of a 1982 rape out of him.

According to Cook County prosecutors, Wrice is not only free, but will not be retried for the crime.

From Associated Press:

Wrice, who was sentenced to 100 years behind bars for a 1982 sexual assault, is among more than two dozen inmates – most of them black men – who have alleged they were tortured by officers under the command of disgraced former Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge in a scandal that gave the nation’s third-largest city a reputation as haven for rogue cops and helped lead to the clearing of Illinois’ death row. Some of the prisoners have been freed; some are still behind bars, hoping to get the kind of hearing that Wrice got that eventually led to his freedom.

In ordering Wrice set free and granting him a new trial, Judge Richard Walsh said Tuesday that two officers had “lied” about the way they’d treated Wrice, who testified that the officers beat him with a flashlight and a 20-inch piece of rubber. A witness testified that he, too, was beaten by the same officers until he agreed to give false testimony against Wrice at trial.

Read more at Associated Press

The city of Chicago has paid out more than $80 million in torture cases over the years. The total could rise significantly with a class-action lawsuit.  So far, Wrice’s attorney’s have not commented on whether he plans to sue the city, but say that he has a strong case if he does.

No police officers were ever convicted of torturing suspects, but Jon Burge is currently serving a 4 1/2 year sentence for obstruction of justice and perjury for lying in a civil suit when he said he’d never witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects.

 Justice, at least in the case of Stanley Wrice has been served.

Should Wrice sue the city for falsely imprisonment? Or should he put the past behind him and move forward with life?

Sound off below!