COLUMBUS -- Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has granted clemency to 78 prison inmates after personally reviewing nearly 300 requests.

Among those granted clemency Monday is Toledo gang member, Willie Knighten, Jr., who was convicted of a 1997 murder by former Lucas County Judge William Skow.

Knighten, 37, was not convicted by a jury.  He was found guilty of the Jun. 5, 2007 drive-by shooting of Irving Turner and Adaris Welch in Toledo. Turner was killed after being shot in the head. Welch was injured in the shooting.

Knighten was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison by Judge Skow after being found guilty of murder, attempted murder and two weapons charges.  He entered prison on Nov. 20, 1997.

Judge Skow sent a letter, on behalf of Knighten, to the Ohio Parole Board just a few months before his June 2009 death.  In the letter, Judge Skow said that the verdict he came to was wrong and Knighten had been wrongly imprisoned for 12 years.  "Over the past years, I have become increasingly persuaded that my findings were erroneous and that - in fact - it is more likely than not that Willie Knighten was innocent of the underlying charges.  This case has weighed heavily on my mind ever since," wrote Judge Skow in his letter to the parole board. "Willie was represented at trial by a young, privately retained lawyer who was in over his head.  He made a significant mistake in waiving a jury, and perhaps more so in not bringing an eyewitness expert to testify as to the likelihood of misidentification of Willie as either the shooter, or even an occupant of the vehicle in this drive-by killing."

Judge Skow continued to outline his disbelief in Knighten's guilt, "Whoever shot Irving Turner, the victim was looking away from the three supposed female eyewitnesses, and was on the opposite side of the vehicle."

The parole board later unanimously recommended Knighten's sentence be commuted.

Gov. Strickland commuted Knighten's sentence Monday.  "The trial and sentencing judge in Mr. Knighten's case determined that his original finding of guilt was in error and that Mr. Knighten has now served 12 years in prison for an offense he likely did not commit. I believe I need to respect Judge Skow's conclusion," Strickland said. "The very foundation of our system of justice rests on the notion that every American is innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In this case, given the trial judge's recommendation to us and my office's careful review, I have concluded that reasonable doubt unquestionably exists. Therefore, a commutation is appropriate at this time."

Knighten's first parole board hearing was scheduled for October 2010.  He is expected to be released from Lima's Allen Correctional Institution on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009.