MAIP is proud to announce that on August 5, 2008, Aaron Michael Howard walked out of prison as a free man for the first time in nearly twenty years.  New evidence uncovered by Howard's attorneys – led by MAIP Board Member Seth Rosenthal – disproved the eyewitness testimony used to convict Howard at trial and established Howard's innocence of the 1988 murder of Bobby Parker in the District of Columbia.  With the pro bono resources of Rosenthal's firm, Venable LLP, and additional financial support from MAIP, Rosenthal obtained affidavits from Howard's co-defendants that cleared him of any blame.  The new evidence was so persuasive that it caused the Metropolitan Police Department detective and the lead prosecutor on the case to believe in Howard's innocence. 

            Howard leaves prison a free man, but he will not be considered "exonerated" in an official sense.  Despite the lead prosecutor's belief in Howard's innocence, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia remained intent on protecting his conviction.  The Office's stance led the lead prosecutor to withdraw from the case.  Facing the prospect of a lengthy evidentiary hearing, and having already spent two decades in prison, Howard entered into an agreement by which he accepted a conviction for manslaughter without admitting guilt and thus earned immediate release for the time he had already served.