Court Sides With Michigan Mom Accused Of The Unthinkable

(CBS) -- In a corner of southeast Michigan, a woman is breathing fresh, free air for the first time, after the state supreme court unanimously granted her a new trial.

The local prosecuting attorney says he won't re-try Lorinda Swain, for a sex crime she didn't commit.

CBS 2's Brad Edwards, then a reporter in Michigan, first investigated her claim of innocence.

 It's been a long time.

"If you hadn't had run my story when you did, I may not be in these shoes today," Swain says as she and Edwards were reunited.

More than a decade ago, she had been convicted of sexually assaulting her adoptive son, Ronnie. He was troubled and in trouble and made an allegation to save himself and put Swain away for 50 years.

He recanted in an interview with Edwards.

Swain was failed by the legal system, her own lawyers and just about everyone, but her parents. They notified Edwards that the state supreme court had ordered a new trial.

The prosecutor says he won't re-try her.

Swain says she would likely have killed herself behind bars.

"I've always known god was real, but I didn't have Job faith," she says, referring to a biblical figure who suffered unthinkable tribulations.

Now, though, her freedom begins.