SIGNATURE MOMENT: Hudie Joyce Walker prepares to sign papers in which she pleads no contest to manslaughter in the shooting of her abusive husband in 1990. She had been convicted of murder. With her is attorney Beth Collins-Burgard. (Irfan Khan / LAT)
GRATEFUL HUG: Walker hugs attorney Collins-Burgard. She was freed because she had already served the equivalent of a manslaughter sentence. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
PATH TO THE FUTURE: Hudie Joyce Walker, 65, says she plans to become an activist on behalf of battered women. One thing about prison for the past 16 years I did not wake up with a black eye on Christmas or my teeth knocked out on New Years. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
