Eric Prudholm was serving a life sentence for an aggravated rape and armed robbery that happened in a Bossier City motel in 1981, but he’s now a free man. A DNA test of bed linens and the victim’s nightgown led to the vacating of his original conviction and sentence.
(Photo Courtesy of Innocence Project New Orleans)
Innocence Project New Orleans Executive Director Jee Park says Prudholm gained his freedom by pleading no contest to robbery with credit for time served.
Innocence Project New Orleans Executive Director Jee Park says Prudholm gained his freedom by pleading no contest to robbery with credit for time served.
Given the weakness of previous evidence, the Bossier Parish DA reached an agreement for an Alford plea, allowing him to maintain his innocence and be freed immediately. Park says a lesson from this case is the importance of preservation of evidence.
"Not to destroy evidence, they actually can help exonerate someone, actually free someone, decades from now," said Park.
Due to the agreement, Park says Prudholm will not receive compensation for his time behind bars. He was 21 when he went to prison, and has a daughter who was born in the months following his incarceration that will help him as he begins his new life at age 58. Park says Prudholm is hoping to land a job in food service.
"He's going to need all the help he can get from generous folks in the community, but while he was in Angola he was a short order cook, he worked in the kitchen for many, many years."
