Man freed by DNA: 'I missed everything'

WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH) - He spent 20 years behind bars for a crime DNA evidence concluded he did not commit, and now a Wallingford man is speaking out about his time in prison and getting used to being a free man .

"I missed everything," Kenneth Ireland said in an exclusive interview with News Channel 8.

For the past two months, Ireland has been getting lots of help adjusting to life on the outside. He was as released in August after spending 20 years behind bars for the crimes of murder and rape.

"When I was arrested I was 18, sent to prison when I was 20... I'm almost 40 now," Ireland said. "So, I mean between 18-40, are there any more vital years in your life really? That's the time to build a family, to get a career, put aside money for your future. I got none of that."

"I don't wake up in the middle of the night and think I'm still in prison. It's funny, because while I was in prison all my dreams at some point became dreams taking place in prison and since I've been out, I just don't dream.

"I think my body and mind are still trying to catch up. I'm waiting for the dreams that aren't in prison so it's amazing. I sleep through the night and I'm doing very well."

Ireland says the most difficult adjustment has been learning to do the every day things people take for granted.

"I had to learn how to work debit cards. I had to learn how to work the Internet. I had no clue about the Internet. Putting gas in my car with the card in the machine -- I had to learn that," Ireland said.

"It's like waking from a coma after 20 years. There were no CDs, there was no fax machines. And, those are already outdated. There was no computers. There was big computers, nobody had them in their homes back then. Cell phones, you know, were those huge things you carried around with you."

Ireland is the third man in the past three years to be released from a Connecticut prison after serving time for a crime DNA evidence concluded he did not commit.

In early 2009 Miguel Roman was released when DNA evidence determined he could not have committed the murder for which he had served 20 years in prison. Three years earlier James Tillman was cleared of rape charges after spending 18 years in prison.

The Connecticut General Assembly awarded Tillman $5 million in compensation.

Since the Tillman case, Connecticut law has been changed so that someone wrongfully convicted can file a claim with the State Claims Commissioner. That's the same place you go if you slip and fall in a state building and have an injury claim.

With Tillman as the test case, it would be reasonable to assume that both Ireland and Roman would probably be entitled to at least $5 million settlements each.

The legislature would have to approve the settlements and then the governor would have to find the money.

Ireland is now working as a counselor for expelled students at a local public school system. He'll turn 40 next month.