hearing the words not guilty after serving time for a crime you didn't commit that's the goal of New Jersey attorney general's conviction review unit which takes up credible cases of possible wrongful conviction for Jersey City's Dion Miller that moment came today after 20 years behind bars senior correspondent Bretta Flanagan has more on his story and the efforts behind his release as we stand here today I can announce that Mr Miller is a free man New Jersey's attorney general announced that Dion Miller of Jersey City who spent two decades behind bars for a 2003 robbery and murder was released from prison yesterday after the oag's conviction review unit concluded he is not guilty the state does not seek to set aside a jury verdict lightly but given our findings in this case it is the only just outcome there was no doubt in my mind that our conclusion was right he is an innocent man Matt platkin says Miller has always maintained his innocence and filed a request for the Cru to review the details of his case the murder occurred at a Jersey City Senior Center where someone robbed 74 year old Romeo cavero and struck him in the head cavero died days later and police arrested Miller the Cru found multiple problems starting with a 17-hour interrogation the only evidence that tied Mr Miller to the crime were three false confessions elicited by now retired members of the Jersey City police department and the Hudson County prosecutor's office who use tactics that are no longer permissible Mr Miller denied attacking Mr cavero saying he confessed to something he did not do to avoid being hurt the Attorney General says they're now investigating whether the three officers who interrogated Miller might also have been involved in other cases with questionable outcomes New Jersey's Innocence Project at Rutgers says a study shows one-fifth of wrongful conviction stem from false confessions innocence itself can contribute to a false confession and the reason for that is because when innocent people are worn down by the interrogation process they cave to their interrogators but they also believe that the system the legal system will reveal the truth in the end Laura Cohen says the Innocence Project helped Miller file the request for Cru review it's one of more than 600 appeals received by the unit since its Creation in 2019 but so far the cru's exonerated only two people the first one Taryn Hill has questioned why it's taking so long to process these cases Platt can blame the pandemic and the shortage of judges in part do I wish we could move cases quickly more quickly across the board of course I think nobody nobody wakes up in the morning saying they want to have somebody who's innocent stay incarcerated the challenges sometimes there's witnesses that are can be difficult to track down forensic a review of forensic material can take a long time he says the new state budget increased funding for the Cru which plans to hire more staff and that his team moves quickly when there's clear evidence of wrongful conviction as for Miller platkin says he's handling this whole situation with Grace and offered sympathy to Romeo cavero's family the families and the residents of this state have my word that we will seek Justice for Mr cavero he says Miller's first act as a free man was to visit the graves of his mom and grandmother who died while he was behind bars his kindness and Poise are inspiring and the fact that this remains true after all he has endured after all these years is a testament to the strength and resiliency of the human Spirit I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news