Woman Awaits Freedom on Mother's Day After 17 Years Behind Bars

SALT LAKE CITY -- Debra Brown has dreamed of bicycling out of a Utah prison after being locked up the past 17 years for the 1993 shooting death of her longtime friend and employer.

She's hoping the bike will be a belated Mother's Day present.

The 53-year-old Brown is the first inmate exonerated under a 2008 Utah law that allows convictions to be reconsidered based on new factual -- not scientific -- evidence. More than 250 people since 1989 have been exonerated nationwide thanks to DNA testing.

Brown's brother has the bicycle ready for what the family hopes will be the end of an emotional battle with her planned release on Monday.

The Salt Lake City-based Rocky Mountain Innocence Center has fought for Brown's release.