Overview

• State District Judge Marta Chou vacated Hooper’s first-degree murder conviction, and he left Stillwater prison Thursday morning.
• The court found the original verdict was tainted by false evidence after the state’s key witness recanted and confessed to killing Ann Prazniak.
• Forensic records cite the witness’s fingerprint on tape used to bind the victim, while no DNA linked Hooper to the crime.
• Hennepin County prosecutors and Minneapolis police have resumed the Prazniak investigation, with potential charges against the confessor under review.
• The Great North Innocence Project represented Hooper, and he may seek compensation for wrongful imprisonment under Minnesota law.