MEDIA, PA - After spending more than two decades on Pennsylvania's death row for a crime he did not commit, Nicholas Yarris was finally exonerated by the justice system today in Delaware County when the District Attorney's office announced that it is dropping charges against Yarris for the 1981 rape and murder of Linda Mae Craig. In July, Yarris' attorneys revealed that DNA evidence from the crime had been tested and conclusively eliminated him as the assailant. In September, Delaware County Judge William R. Toal, Jr., vacated Yarris' conviction - the first such decision in a Pennsylvania capital case based on DNA analysis; he remained on death row pending a second prosecution on the charges. In response to the announcement, Yarris, who was in the courtroom, stated that he bears no ill will toward Judge Toal or Delaware Co. District Attorney G. Michael Green. Judge Toal, who had stated repeatedly during the hearing that he had confidence in the District Attorneys and that "juries usually do a pretty good job," offered Yarris and his family no apology or well wishes following his 22 year ordeal. During a press conference following the hearing, Yarris' appellate attorney, Peter Goldberger responded to the judge's analysis of the jury system by stating, "a 'pretty good job' isn't good enough when it comes to the death penalty." About 15 local moratorium proponents held vigil outside the courthouse during the proceedings, chanting, "Moratorium Now!" Now 42, Yarris has spent half of his life - 21 years - under sentence of death and will not immediately be released due to a 3? to seven-year sentence for a 1985 escape, in which he avoided capture for more than three weeks before being apprehended in Florida. Additional charges and sentences were imposed in Florida, however attorneys working on Yarris' behalf will seek his release citing time served in the Craig case. Yarris is the 112th death row prisoner to be exonerated and released in the United States since 1973 and the tenth this year. Supporters of a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania are citing Yarris' ordeal as yet another glaring example of the Commonwealth's severely flawed death penalty system. Yarris is the fifth death row prisoner in Pennsylvania to be exonerated and released since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978; three individuals were executed in the state during the same time period. "Pennsylvania has put more innocent people through the horror of wrongful conviction and years death row than the total number of people it's executed," stated Jeff Garis, executive director of Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty. "Millions in tax dollars have been wasted on these cases, and, all the while, the real killers have escaped justice. For over 20 years, Jane Yarris was unable to hug her son. Let no one say this exoneration is evidence that 'the system works;' this exoneration is irrefutable evidence that an immediate moratorium on executions and system-wide investigation is essential for ensuring justice in our justice system." During his gubernatorial campaign, Governor Ed Rendell, a death penalty proponent, stated that he would support a moratorium on executions if there was compelling evidence of errors and unfairness in the system. On March 4th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System released a report recommending an immediate moratorium on executions, citing evidence of racial bias and the failure of the Commonwealth to ensure competent representation for indigent defendants. Gov. Rendell has since stated that he has seen no compelling evidence of problems with Pennsylvania's capital punishment system. "Today, the District Attorney of Delaware County, after carefully examining the evidence, chose to do the just and right thing," said Garis. "We, the citizens of Pennsylvania, call on Gov. Rendell to face the evidence of errors in our system, and do likewise. Justice demands an immediate moratorium." Click here for additional information and media coverage on the Yarris exoneration.