Ten years after an appeals court overturned his sexual assault conviction, Jarrett Adams returned to the court as an attorney. He’s now part of a team looking to overturn the conviction of a man who was sentenced to 89 years after the wife of a retired Chicago Police Department sergeant was found dead, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

It’s a story that’s ripe for a movie script.

After Adams conviction was overturned in 2006, he attended Chicago’s Roosevelt University and Loyola University and competed for top tier law fellowships normally reserved for students from the top programs in the country. He passed the New York bar exam this past February and is now using his insight as a wrongfully convicted inmate to help other people.

“It was kind of surreal to be in there — from being in prison to being able to argue for someone else,” Adams said. “It wasn’t a bad day. Of course, a better day would have been [Bailey] getting out.”

Adams is on a legal team alongside New York attorney Bryce Benjet of the Innocence Project and Chicago attorney Joey Mogul of the People’s Law Office looking to overturn Kevin Bailey’s conviction based on DNA evidence.

In 1989, Lula Mae Woods was found stabbed to death in her garage with a Domino’s Pizza cap under her body. Further examination shows that neither the hair inside the cap, nor any fingerprints on the scene, match Bailey or his co-defendant Corey Batchelor – who spent 15 years in prison. It was stated that they were fed evidence by police officers and choked and threatened until they confessed.

“Not only can I say ‘I know how you feel’ to the clients, but I can also articulate it to a court so that they can hopefully understand,” Adams said after Wednesday’s, brief, 15-minute hearing. “I am the possibility of what can happen, plainly put.”

Adams’ unique insight appears to be welcomes in the courtroom, as it’s not common to hear of someone going from studying law from prison to becoming an attorney.

“Congratulations on joining the profession. Nice to meet you, sir,” said Judge Alfredo Maldonado after being introduced to Adams.

Hopefully, the attorney has a long, bright future ahead of him.

Photo Credit: Jarrett Adams’ Twitter