Utah Woman Freed From Prison After 17 Years, Declared 'Factually Innocent'

DRAPER, Utah -- A Utah woman has been freed from prison after 17 years and is celebrating a belated Mother's Day with her family after being declared "factually innocent" in a 1993 murder.

Fifty-three-year-old Debra Brown is the first inmate exonerated under a 2008 Utah law allowing judges to reconsider convictions based on new factual -- not scientific -- evidence.

Brown's exit from the Utah State Prison touched off an emotional reunion in the pouring rain.

Though she couldn't pedal a powder-blue bicycle out of prison as she dreamed, the coaster was waiting with family and friends outside the prison gates.

Brown was sentenced to life in the death of Lael Brown. The two are not related.

Prosecutors are appealing the judge's decision to overturn the conviction but not the release from prison.