America's Got Talent star 'still not free' after vital clue proved he was wrongly jailed

Frightened Archie Williams was just 22-years-old when we was arrested for someone else's sickening crime.

He didn't walk out of prison until the age of 58 in March 2019 after a horrifying miscarriage of justice - and is "still not free".

On the morning of December 9 of 1982, a 30-year-old white woman was raped and stabbed in her Louisiana home by an intruder.

Despite having an alibi and being excluded from all identifiable fingerprints, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole based almost exclusively on a single eyewitness misidentification.

"I was just incarcerated for 37 years for somebody else’s crime. DNA freed me," said Archie as he stood in front of the America's Got Talent judges.

"I couldn’t believe it was really happening. I knew I was innocent,"

“I didn’t commit a crime. But being a poor black kid, I didn’t have the economic ability to fight the state of Louisiana."

During two initials photo arrays, the first taking place nearly a month after the crime, the victim did not choose Archie as the assailant.

Instead, she told police officers to look for someone that resembled him.

But after being shown his photo for a third time she did claim he was the attacker - and identified him again during an in-person line-up.

However, the neighbour that came to check on the victim and was forced in the bedroom did not select Archie.

Both of their descriptions of the perpetrator described someone far taller than Williams.

At that time, identification experts, who could have explained the factors that influence witnesses, were not allowed to testify in court in Louisiana.

Archie also had an alibi as his mother, sister and a family friend all testified that he was at home asleep at the time the attack occurred.

He was also excluded from all identifiable fingerprints from the bedroom and door where the attack happened.

Archie explained to the AGT judges: "At the trial, none of the fingerprints at the scene matched mine. Three people testified that I was at home, but they wanted somebody to pay.

"I was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole or probation. I was sent to Angola State Penutentuary. It was as classified as the bloodiest prison in the United States.

"You have to decide if you want to be strong or weak as you will be tested. Days turned into weeks and into months and into decades. It was like a nightmare."

After being locked up for 12 years, Archie reached out to the Innocence Project in a bid to get justice and his freedom.

They first sought DNA testing for Williams in 1996 when it became forensically available but were forced to wait for the law to catch up with the science.

In 2009, male DNA in the victim’s rape kit did not match Williams, but the state opposed his efforts to search the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) for a possible suspect.

It wasn't until March 2019 that Commissioner Kimble insisted that the fingerprints be submitted into the database.

This led to a known rapist, Stephen Forbes, who had committed similar sexual assaults in the same neighborhood.

Before dying in 1996, Forbes gave taped confessions to four other rapes, one less than two miles from the crime scene in which Archie was wrongly convicted.

Opening up to AGT host Terry Crews, Archie explained how he managed to survive the ordeal.

Wiping away tears, emotional Archie said: "Freedom is of the mind. I went to prison but I never let my mind go to prison.

He added: “When you are faced with dark times, what I would do is pray and sing. This is how I got peace.

"When the Innocent Project took my case I just hoped they would previal. This new technology got me back in court."

Innocence Project are fighting to make legislative reform on the unreliable identification techniques that led to Archie's wrongful conviction.

They are also working on a bill to allow eyewitness identification experts at trial, which all states but Louisiana and Nebraska permit.

Had such an expert been allowed at Archie's trial, it would have challenged the identification method used to select him as a suspect.

Vanessa Potkin, director of post-conviction litigation at the Innocence Project, said: "Once a person is convicted, the criminal laws are rife with vast, insurmountable procedural hurdles intended to favor finality over truth.

"While we have come a long way in allowing convicted people access to evidence for DNA testing, we have a long way to go when non-DNA evidence of innocence is at issue.

"Given what we now know about wrongful convictions, that they occur at alarming rates, we must create pathways for truth to prevail."

But the struggle is not over for Archie, who is still fighting for justice after being released from prison.

When asked about gaining his freedom back, he said: "There are many innocent people at Angola - guys who have served over 50 years.

"I’m happy to be cleared finally, but I’m not free until they are free."

Archie watched America's Got Talent while in prison and dreamed of having the chance of a lifetime on the stage.

Simon Cowell was left gobsmacked by his incredible performance – and deeply moved by his heartbreaking life story.

Sharing footage from the forthcoming fifteenth season of the long running talent show, Simon tweeted: “This is Archie Williams. I will never forget this audition for the rest of my life. And I’ll never listen to this song in the same way ever again.”

The clip shared by Simon showed Archie giving an emotional performance of the classic George Michael and Sir Elton John duet, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.

Emotional Simon admitted he would never be able to listen to that song in same way ever again.