Woman Released After 25 Years Won’t Be Retried

New York’s longest-serving female inmate was released from prison Wednesday to a jubilant crowd, hours after learning she won’t be retried for a 25-year-old murder.

Betty Tyson, a former prostitute who has spent half her life behind bars and turns 50 next month, had her second-degree murder conviction set aside a week ago by a judge who ruled that police had wrongfully suppressed evidence in 1973.

Tyson was freed on her own recognizance after being transferred from a prison near New York City to Rochester, where she met a crowd of relatives, friends and supporters, her lawyer said.

“I love all of them and I thank them,” said Tyson, who went to visit her seven brothers and sisters in Rochester.

Her case is expected to be dismissed at a hearing Friday.

Earlier in the day, Dist. Atty. Howard Relin said he would not seek a new trial against someone who has already, in effect, served the maximum sentence. A new trial would be costly and likely be unsuccessful, he said.

“Nothing could be gained for this community by trying Betty Tyson again,” Relin said at a news conference. “You have to make responsible decisions that square with the law and square with your own sense of fairness and your sense of justice.”

However, Relin insisted that evidence suggests Tyson was involved in the slaying. He declined to give details in anticipation of Tyson’s suing for damages for wrongful conviction.