RALEIGH -- Henry McCollum and his half-brother Leon Brown were freed on September 2nd, after 30 years in prison. A judge vacated their convictions in the 1983 rape and slaying of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie, in Robeson County, because new evidence points to another man.

Vernetta Alston with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation represented McCollum; she says, "They were released primarily because of a DNA match to a cigarette butt that was found at the crime scene, next to sticks with the victim's blood on it and a beer can with her fingerprint on it. That matched another person, Roscoe Artis, who is a serial rapist who lived less than 100 feet from where the body was found."

A pardon application for McCollum and Brown was filed on September 12th. Meanwhile, Joe Freeman Britt -- the man who originally prosecuted them -- told the Associated Press the governor would be a fool to consider a pardon. Gov. McCrory previously issued a statement saying he would review their request as soon as he received it.