Stephen Dunn/ Hartford Courant File Pool Photo
George Gould and Ron Taylor will be freed Thursday after 16 years in prison, according to a state prosecutor.
After overturning their convictions in a 1993 murder case, Superior Court Judge Stanley Fuger ordered Taylor and Gould released from prison, effective Thursday.
Michael O’Hare, a supervisory assistant state’s attorney, said the state plans to appeal Judge Fuger’s decision, which found that the men were innocent of the crime. The appeal will be filed Thursday, O’Hare said.
However, the state will not block the men’s freedom in the meantime, according to O’Hare.
Judge Fuger is scheduled to rule on their freedom at a hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday at Superior Court in Rockville.
“I expect the petitioners to be released” Thursday, O’Hare said.
Two weeks ago, when Judge Fuger first issued a seething decision finding the men had suffered “manifest injustice” and should be immediately freed, O’Hare urged that the prisoners remain behind bars as the state took the time to review the decision.
In an interview Wednesday, O’Hare said the state is satisfied with the conditions of their release set by Judge Fuger last week. By the judge’s orders, Taylor and Gould must stay in the state, be placed on GPS monitoring, and pay a $100,000 non-surety bond if they don’t show up at a future court date.
Taylor and Gould are currently being held at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield. Taylor is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer that has spread to his liver and lungs.
Stephen Dunn/ Hartford Courant File Pool Photo
Both men, from New Haven, have families waiting for them. Martha Gould (pictured), mother of George Gould, said she planned to be there Thursday for her son’s release.
“I just want my son to come home,” she said.
Mary Taylor, Ron Taylor’s wife, said she doesn’t know if her husband will finish chemotherapy in time to attend Thursday’s court date.
After 16 years, she wasn’t taking anything for granted.
“As far as I know, he’s getting out,” she said, but “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Past stories on the Taylor/Gould case:
• Judge Orders Prisoners Freed
• Prosecutor Sticks To Guns
• Judge Delays Release In Wrongful Conviction Case
• Outraged Judge Reverses Murder Convictions