Maintaining Innocence, Sanborn Says He Accepted Deal To End Court Ordeal

PORTLAND, Maine - A man freed after serving 27 years for the 1989 murder of a teenager says he struck a deal and walked away from a post-conviction review hearing because he couldn't bear the thought of going back to prison if he lost.
 
Forty-five-year-old Anthony Sanborn tells the Portland Press Herald he wanted his ordeal in the court system to end.
 
Lawyers reached a deal Wednesday designed to keep Sanborn out of prison following new evidence from a key witness, who recanted testimony that she saw Sanborn stab 16-year-old Jessica Briggs. Sanborn's conviction stands; he had been sentenced to 70 years for the killing of Briggs, his one-time girlfriend.
 
Sanborn, who maintained his innocence, said while he had hoped to clear his name and wipe the murder conviction from his record, he's at peace with his decision.