'Truth finally comes out': Brothers exonerated after 20 years in prison


If you did nothing wrong, you've got nothing to worry about.

The words swirled around Quinton Cook's head as he sat in the Jefferson County Jail. He figured the attorneys and judge were right, so he believed them. His brother Frank Meadows, also in the jail, believed them, too. Those words reassured them that their innocence would come out at trial.

What happened next was a nightmare.

"From believing that, I winded up being in prison for 20 years of my life," Cook said.

Cook and Meadows were convicted in 1994 of first-degree rape and sentenced to 20 years in an Alabama prison without any physical evidence linking them to the crime. They served the entirety of their sentences.

On Oct. 25, a Jefferson County judge exonerated them.

A police report and blood — collected from the scene never presented at trial — re-emerged by chance nearly 30 years later and showed that they were innocent.

"Since the police report contained exculpatory evidence that was recklessly not provided to the defense, petitioner is entitled to relief," wrote Jefferson County Circuit Judge Shanta Owens.

The bad dream they thought they'd never wake from is finally over, but having their innocence recognized feels just as surreal, Cook said.

"When the truth finally comes out, it takes a moment for you to realize that it really just came out," Meadows said. "When you done walked with your head down so long, it gets hard to hold it up at times."

Perhaps most striking about Cook and Meadows now, men who spent their 20s and 30s in prison for a crime a judge ruled they did not commit, is the grace with which they speak about their conviction. They aren't resentful toward those responsible for the injustice, from the district attorney to the judge. "I can't say I was angry," Cook said. "I will say I was scared, and I was disappointed.

"I've kind of justified it with saying that God does everything for a reason," he said. "I came to the conclusion, understanding that, well, if I'm going to be mad, I've got to be mad at God because he allowed the devil to do this. I couldn't walk around mad and angry."


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