Wrongly Imprisoned: Musicians Want To Tell Man's Story

Melanie Hammet and Ben Holst want to make music that sets people free--literally.

They plan to record an album about Clarence Harrison, a man who was arrested in Decatur and imprisoned before the Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) helped free him. The GIP helps the wrongly convicted through DNA evidence.

Once the cost of making the album is covered, proceeds would go to to the GIP, which has offices in Suburban Plaza.

Harrison was charged with raping, kidnapping and robbing a woman in the Oakhurst section of Decatur, with the prosecution based partly on the victim's identification of Harrison.

He was sentenced in 1987 to life plus 20 years. When the DNA evidence surfaced and he was freed, he'd spent about 18 years behind bars.

Hammett, who is the mayor pro tem of Pine Lake as well as a working musician, said the album would be called "Life Sentence."

The musicians recorded three songs but need to raise $22,500 to finish the project. The money would pay for studio time, production and engineering, musician fees and audio mastering.

The "Life Sentence" website says,

Every time one of these songs is played, an opportunity to learn about the plight of the wrongfully incarcerated gets generated. That’s why our goal is to get this music into as many hands as possible. 11 songs have been written, but writing them is only the beginning of what needs to be done to bring this project into being. These songs need to be converted into a fully produced album, recorded with a full band, mixed, mastered, pressed, distributed, marketed and promoted, and that requires funding.

We want to feature many of music’s brightest stars singing these songs; only then can we sell the albums in sufficient quantities to raise the funds necessary for the Georgia Innocence Project to fulfill its mission: securing the release of every innocent person in a Georgia and Alabama prison right now.

Go to the "Life Sentence" website if you want to contribute. Also go to the website to hear the three songs already recorded.

GIP Executive Director Aimee R. Maxwell said Harrison now lives in Marietta.

In 2005, the state agreed to pay him $1 million over the next 20 years. Former state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Decatur) spearheaded the legislation.