Judge exonerates man who served 20 years in Georgia slayings

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — A judge has dismissed all charges against a man convicted of the 1985 slayings of a couple at a south Georgia church, exonerating him after he spent two decades behind bars.

Dennis Perry’s attorneys say Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett on Monday granted a motion by prosecutors to dismiss the case. Scarlett last year gave Perry the chance for a new trial after DNA recovered from the crime scene matched a different suspect.

He also ordered Perry’s release from prison while prosecutors decided whether to refile charges. A district attorney who took office in January decided not to pursue the case.