Little Rest For Freed Man

After spending more than 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Pete Wiliams is getting little rest on his first full day of freedom.

Williams was released from custody on Tuesday night after DNA tests showed he did not commit a 1985 rape.

Pete Williams was released from custody at about 10 p.m. People at the Georgia Innocence Project say he stayed up all night and a good part of Wednesday visiting with family.

Williams is thankful for his second chance at life, and thankful for the third year law student who found the key piece of evidence that unlocked the prison doors.

Only a few seconds into his new life as a free man, Pete Williams was held captive -- by his family. In the lobby of the Fulton County Jail, Williams was mugged by dozens of loving relatives. Family members who have been unable to put their arms around him in 21 years.

After years as Inmate Williams, private citizen Pete Williams says just wants to do the simple things that he?s been unable to do.

He will get that opportunity because of an unrelated man named Williams.

?Actually, it was pretty much a miracle,? said third-year law student and Georgia Innocence Project intern Cliff Williams.

When working on a different case, he just happened to run across Pete Williams? file. He asked about critical evidence in Williams? file, unsure if the 1985 evidence had been destroyed.

?And they physically walked back there (to the vault) and found it,? Cliff Williams said.

The discovery led to the DNA test that cleared Pete Williams? name. During his 21 years behind bars, he survived with faith and family.

When asked if he was angry, Pete Williams replied, ?Of course not. I went through ten years of anger, and then gave it up to the Lord.?

He now considers Cliff Williams a part of his family.

?His mom considers me like one of her sons,? said Cliff Williams.

He joins a large group of people, now united by freedom.

When Pete Williams walked out of the Fulton County Jail, he wore clothes bought for him by people at the Georgia Innocence Project. He had been wearing prison clothes for the past 21 years, and one of the many offers he?s received since his release -- a local store has offered to provide him with a new suit, free of charge.