tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you shortly for tonight's "dateline." for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i had a visitor, and she couldn't take it anymore. he gave me a hug and started crying. said that he was sorry and that he believed it was an injustice made. i wasn't going to give up, but i didn't know where it was going to take me. comenzo >> a bus driver, accus of unspeakable crimes. children whisked away from school for strange and secret games. >> someone called, and we went to nancy's house again. i said what? >> was she the villain -- >> they arrested me, handcuffed me, in front of my children. >> or a victim? >> it wasn't that i had a hunch they were innocent.

i knew it. >> what was the truth? >> did anyone ask you to take a closer look? >> yeah, number two. >> and who would find it? >> oh, my god. you know i didn't do this. they all know i didn't do this. >> haunt"haunted memories." welcome to "dateline," everyone, i'm lester holt. it was such an ugly accusation, it outraged an entire community it had all the elements, victims, witnesses, and soon, two suspects under arrest. the only question? was there a crime? here is ron mott. >> reporter: the sights and sounds of childhood. unforgettable smells, images so

vivid that even fleeting moments become indelible memories, but how reliable are those memories? are the colors true? would you stake your life on it? >> it's showtime. >> reporter: and it is possible for imagination and memory to mix in the mind of a child? >> this did not ever happen. i am an innocent person. these allegations are not true. and i'm -- i don't -- i don't know how else to explain it. i did not do this. i am not a child molester. >> reporter: but that is exactly what nancy smith was accused of in the spring of 1993. >> it was a nightmare and it began one day and never ended and it's still a nirt today. >> reporter: nancy had been born and raised in lorain, ohio, a once booming industrial town on lake erie she stayed out of trouble and grew up with modest aspirations.

>> i always knew i probably wanted to grow up and be a mother. get married, have a house. you know, what everybody dreams of. >> reporter: she never dreamed a divorce would leave her with four children to raise alone and she nerve dreamed that factories would shut down. driving a school bus was the best job nancy could find. it offered health insurance and by all accounts, she was good at it. but then in 1993, nancy smith's life changed forever. >> i went to the bus garage to get my bus and my boss came up and said they needed to talk to me downtown and that is when they told me that a mother had made an allegation against me on friday. >> reporter: did they tell you much about this mother? >> no, they would not give me no names. they really left me in the dark. >> reporter: a 4-year-old was at the heart of it. a little girl who had been riding nancy's bus all year had suddenly blurted out something strange to her mother the

previous friday. >> she said you know what, mommy? the school was closed before we got there, so we just went to nancy's house again. i said what? >> reporter: the mother's name was margie grondon and she said the bus driver had taken her daughter and some other children home and exposed them to a pedophile. >> we take off our clothes and then joseph plays us with. >> reporter: the play went way beyond dolls in a messy basement. she described explicit sexual acts. >> she said that he put something inside her. >> reporter: upon hearing her little girl may have been violated with a stick, the mother took her to an emergency room for a full examination, that's when the police were called. >> and the officers took the report at the hospital, and the detective did a followup on the investigation. >> reporter: detective tom cantu got the case, he immediately went to see the girl and her mother to ask what else they

knew about this joseph. >> she was saying he got on the bus with nancy smith several times and it was either a black male with white spots or a male with discolored skin areas on his face. >> reporter: the girl also told her mom that this spotted black man had blue eyes and he would sometimes urinate on her and other children after nancy served them milk and cookies. the detective brought nancy smith in for questioning. >> okay, nancy, you have the right to remain silent. >> i told her what the complaint was and the possible charges. of course, she broke down and said i did not do anything like that i love the kids. we are not allowed to run our bus without an aide. we can't pull out without one. >> that friday, sherry hagerman was on my bus.

>> reporter: the detective didn't ask any more about haegerman. >> they are talking about joseph. who is joseph? >> i have no idea. that there is nobody that works with me named joseph. >> i asked nancy smith, would you like to take a polygraph. not a problem, she volunteered to take a polygraph. >> reporter: but before that could be done, detective cantu was sent to the mayor's office. >> she was screaming for justice. the mayor is screaming for an arrest. >> reporter: tempers were so hot, cantu had to call in his supervisor, the chief of investigation, cel rivera to back him up. >> they were screaming, so when i walked in. >> the mayor kind of cooled his heels. and on the other hand, the mother kept right shooting off her mouth. >> reporter: then the accusing mom really turned up the heat.

she took the case public. >> one of the bus drivered drove them to a house where the alleged molesting took place. >> reporter: . >> all of this was publicized. >> margie grondin organized the parents. >> all of a sudden, more children were coming forward. >> reporter: overnight, it was as if a sickening fear had blown in off lake erie, the parents of children of nancy smith's bus were panicked and calling the police with claims of their own. >> it really mushroomed. into a circus atmosphere. >> when we come back, police finally find the mysterious joseph and it doesn't look good for nancy smith. >> he had a group of young juvenile runaways he was harboring at his home to have sex with. >> when "haunted memories" continues. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from

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the news hit lorain, ohio, like a firebomb. trusted school bus driver nancy smith and a mysterious man named joseph allegedly engaged in the repeated sexual molestation of preschoolers. after the media got involved, more parents came forward with their children's claims of abuse. >> when i started, you know, asking them questions, about his, you know -- that his butt was burning after it came out in the newspaper. >> they told me a game where they put them all on the wall and made them undress. >> reporter: with more children came more details. most of the abuse took place at joseph's house. joseph had a messy basement and he stuck them with needles. >> joseph told them to lie about everything. >> we also had a medical report

at that time that showed two of the kids might have had a sexual disease. but there was also another report of another child who had scars indicating child abuse. >> reporter: but additional medical testing failed to support those findings, and police were still struggling to build a case. even as questions from the media and the public were mounting. >> i know that everybody thinks a lot of pressure is put on us by the media. that just goes with the turf. that goes with every case, but we don't frame people to get the media off our backs. >> reporter: but then in october, five months after the first allegations, detectives finally got the lucky break they had been looking for. a man named joseph suddenly appeared on their radar. >> the reason he came to the attention of the detectives to begin with was the fact that he had a group of young juvenile runaways that he was harboring at his home, and that he had sex with. >> reporter: his full name was joseph allen, and he had done time for murder and child rape.

though his home didn't have a basement that the children mentioned, a search turned up toys that the cops thought suspicious for a 40-year-old man that lived alone. a lineup hastily arranged, and seven of the accusing kids and their parents were brought in to get a good look at this joseph. we didn't have any equipment at the time. one guy went home and got his own video camera so there would be no question. >> reporter: joseph allen didn't have blue eyes or white spots that some children had described, but he did have white spots elsewhere on his body. police say several of the children were frightened when they saw allen standing before them wearing a green shirt. >> the green shirt. >> reporter: but two quickly picked him out and one boy's mother, who used to work for head start told police she had seen allen hanging around the head start school. >> he and i had a run-in. my son broke free from the grasp, and he was standing by

nancy's bus and i told him to get away from my son and stay away from him. >> reporter: police were sure they had their man. his arrest was front page news. and nancy smith said that was the first time she laid eyes on him. >> i guess they claimed he was my boyfriend. i had no idea who he was. seen his picture in the newspaper. >> reporter: total stranger? >> total stranger. >> that evening when nancy saw police cars outside her parent' home, she knew they were coming for her. >> they knocked on the door, my parents let them in, arrested me, handcuffed me in front of my children. and took me to jail. >> reporter: it was a wrenching moment to be sure. but in lorain, there was little sympathy to be had for accused child molesters. >> cast trait them and shove it down his throat or i could take

him to my house and torture him and her a little at a time like they did these kids. >> yeah, cut him up. >> reporter: for anyone watching this playing out in the media this seemed a sickening nationwide trend involving child care workers and the child abuse of children. >> every day seems to bring more stories about child sexual abuse in this country. >> reporter: it was against this back drop in the summer of 1994 that nancy smith and joseph allen went on trial. everyone it seemed wanted to protect the children from further trauma. the judge ordered that smith and allen be tried together. that way, the children would not have to testify twice. >> they wanted a separate trial for nancy and one of the reasons because joseph had a prior conviction. >> reporter: jack bradley was nancy smith's attorney. >> just sitting them in the same courtroom together would automatically give a connection. not a connection that could be

established through evidence, but just because they were sitting at the same table together. >> reporter: the prosecution of the head start case was assigned to jonathan rosensbalm. >> he was a good man to have on your side when you were prosecuting a case. he was like a pitbull. very aggressive. >> reporter: rosenbaun declined our requests for an interview, but in e-mails he says the case was strong, highlighted by the testimony of five children and their parents. >> so the prosecutor would tell the jurors, just go back to the children, listen to what the children say. that is where you determine this case. >> reporter: what the children said to the jury was shocking. according to four of the kids, nancy smith had repeatedly taken them to joseph allen's house, where they had been tortured, sexually assaulted and threatened with death if they told. the parents testified in the months before the scandal came

to light, their children had been acting out sexually with children and stuffed animals. graphic personal testimony seemed to hit home with the jury, even though no medical evidence was presented. >> it didn't matter in this case. it always went back to the children and the perception that the jurors had about the children. >> reporter: at the end of the trial, nancy smith took the stand. still insisting that she had been wrongly accused. >> i don't even know how to explain my emotions. i was devastated that anybody would even make these allegations against me. i'm a mother, why would somebody do that to me? >> reporter: but the prosecutor got nancy to admit that on occasion, she may have been briefly alone with the children on the bus that gave nancy smith and joseph allen ample opportunity to abuse the children and the prosecutor said the children were too young to make up graphic stories of sexual abuse. after six hours of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict.

>> we, the jury, fin the defendant guilty. >> i thought i was going to pass out. i could not believe it. i could not believe these people found me guilty. >> i did not commit this crime. i don't even know that man. i have never, ever seen that man before. >> reporter: a short time later, nancy smith was sentenced to 30 to 90 years in prison. >> 45472. >> i've never seen this man. >> reporter: her co-defendant, joseph allen, got five consecutive life sentences. >> they took me straight to the county jail. your kids are standing there, and i didn't know when i was ever going to see them again. >> coming up, what the jury didn't hear, from the original detective on the case. >> nothing matched. nothing. >> and from the aide on nancy's bus. >> i never got to spake to anybody anybody about anything. >> when "dateline" continues.

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oh, my god. you know i didn't do this. they all know i didn't do this. >> reporter: that is how nancy 3 f1 smith and joseph allen began serving their sentences as convicted sex offenders.

a long time. >> reporter: though stunned by the verdicts, nancy's attorney was determined to fight on. >> i met with nancy's family 3 f1 after the trial, and i said i'm not going to give up on this case. i'm not going to quit trying to do whatever i can to secure her release. >> reporter: jack bradley was convinced that the jury had been swayed by the powerful testimony of the children and their parents, but he also felt the prosecution had failed to answer one big question. >> nobody ever explained how the children would then leave joseph's house after being urinated on, stuck with needles, abused, sexually assaulted in unimaginable ways and go back to their head start classroom and the teach weir just bring them in, and, oh, you were gone for a couple hours, glad you're back. any problems? no. >> reporter: bradley thought that defied logic, and that the

children's inconsistent statements showed their stories may have been contaminated by the repeated questioning of parents, police, and prosecutors. >> i never got the children's recorded statements until the second day of trial, when the prosecutor realized that they contained all type of exculpatory information. i asked the judge to play the tapes to the jury, because they would certainly realize once they heard those tapes that these children had been manipulated. that was denied. >> reporter: detective tom cantu, the first investigator on the case, says he suspected from day one that the children may have been manipulated. >> when i went to the house to interview the victim, the child victim, the mother wouldn't let the child answer any questions. the mother kept on answering for the child. then when i would ask the child is that right? i don't remember. i don't know. >> reporter: cantu says his doubts about the case only grew

when he couldn't find any physical evidence to corroborate that child's story. none of the houses that kids pointed out as places they were abused, checked out. and though the kids said they were abused together, head start records didn't show they were absent on the same days. >> no one saw a school bus parked in any neighborhood in the city. that would be like a sore thumb. put a school bus in any neighborhood, people would have seen it. >> reporter: in 20 years as a cop, cantu says he had never seen anything like it. he recommended the case be dropped and thought it had been, but because a promotion which took him off the case, he says he didn't know that new detective has been assigned. cantu said those detectives never spoke to him about his findings, and he was never asked to testify at trial. >> angers me to this day that i was never called to testify, being the initial investigator. i think i could have influenced the jury. >> reporter: did you call jack

bradly and say put me on the stand? >> i just figured if they thought my investigation that was important, they could have called me. >> reporter: another person that thought they could have helped is sherri hagerman. >> i don't remember any officers asking me what happened. >> reporter: hagerman is the bus aide that worked with nancy smith on the day that victims said nancy took kids to joseph. >> we took these kids to their homes or the school. >> reporter: what's jaw dropping is that nancy's attorney knew her story but never called her to testify. >> i was supposed to go and testify on her behalf, and i never did. why, i don't know. >> hagerman isn't the only bus aide who wanted to testify on nancy's behalf. sue coates had also been her aide in the months that the kids claim abuse was taking place.

>> i begged bradley every day, put me on the stand, please. i was her aide. i know how she behaved. >> reporter: then there was eddie soto, another coworkers nancy's. he wanted the jury to hear about the night that margie grondin told him a secret. >> margie knocked on my door and told me in the beginning of the investigation, that little girl was saying, no, that didn't happen. i said, margie if this is -- this is serious. she's changing the story. you need to -- you need to speak up. >> reporter: the prosecutor, however, objected, and the judge threw that testimony out. >> they said, no, this is hearsay stuff. we don't want to hear this. in fact, i think i got kicked off that bench so fast, it wasn't -- it wasn't right. >> reporter: so much monday morning quarterbacking, regret, and recrimination, and yet as it turned out, perhaps the most

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the ohio reformatory for women in marysville casted a forbidding shadow over the surrounding countryside. a sign in a farmer's countryside3 f1 shouts an eternal warning. for nancy smith, this prison was hell and home for the what were the first few days,

weeks, like there? >> i know that i cried every night, and i just probably kept to myself. it's a pretty scary situation. you don't know what are you walking into. you don't know the people. >> reporter: after her conviction in 1994, nancy's four children, ranging in age from 12 to 18, were split up. one daughter, amber, lived out of town with grandparents. >> i was 14 when it started, and i probably could have dealt with it, but they sheltered me from a lot of it. >> reporter: the children grew up without their mom, graduations, marriages, births, and deaths, nancy missed them all. >> i wasn't there when amber lost her twins, and i remember talking to her on the phone and she said, mom, i need you, and i couldn't even be there for my own daughter. when she needed me the most. >> reporter: the future could not have been bleaker.

both nancy and joseph allen had exhausted their appeals, and yet outside the prison's razor wire, public opinion was changing. several similar convictions from the '80s and '90s had been recently overturned and journalists examining the lorain head start case were turning up evidence that had not been presented at trial. most remarkable of all was the tape of that police lineup that led to joseph allen's arrest. >> number one. number two. >> reporter: released to a noup in 1997, the tape shows margie grondin's daughter hesitated when asked to show who abused her. for eight long minutes, the girl stares at the men before her, until finally her mother margie grondin literally takes matters

into her own hand. >> him. >> reporter: the jury never saw that. because the prosecution didn't show it, and the defense team simply missed it. >> that information seemed to be somewhat hidden in the discovery and that may have just been overlooked. >> reporter: but that was not the only revelation on that tape this boy's mother, emily oliver, claimed she saw joseph allen near nancy smith's bus. at the lineup, she claimed joseph allen had grabbed her son, william by the arm. >> do you recognize his voice and stuff? >> yeah, die. >> but on the day of the lineup, william didn't pick him out. at trial, emily oliver testified that william was so afraid of joseph allen he left the room in tears. but the lineup tape shows that was clearly not the case. had the jury seen this, emily oliver's credibility may well have been called into question. >> i don't remember anything happening to me.

>> reporter: william oliver is all grown up now and currently doing time in an idaho prison for burglary. joseph never grabbed your arm? >> nope. >> reporter: you never saw them together? >> the only time i saw them close was on a piece of paper with their pictures on it. >> reporter: in your world, this is fiction? >> yeah. >> emily oliver had a life long problem with prescriptions. >> i think it was emily trying to cheat to the system to maybe collect money for herself to support her habit. >> reporter: it turned out another mother who testified at trial also had a history with drugs, margie grondin herself. a few years before she accused nancy smith, she pleaded guilty to dealing cocaine out of her apartment. that was something jack bradley

should have known about. >> a substitute attorney took over that case. >> reporter: you don't remember her? >> no. >> reporter: turning against your client? >>. no. >> reporter: these post-trial discoveries attracted the attention of a law professor at the university of cincinnati and director of the ohio innocence project. >> it was bizarre that charges were brought in the first place, once you start looking at the stories of the children just changed constantly. >> reporter: no medical records. >> right. >> reporter: the deeper the professor and student researchers dug into the case, the more they were convinced she needed a new trial. the evidence had been overlooked, critical witnesses like bus aide sherri hagerman were never called. >> that particular bus aide wasser in called by you? >> yes. >> reporter: why didn't you? >> i can't tell you why i didn't. probably in hindsight i would want to do that. >> reporter: if it turns out

that her being cleared on these charges is based on ineffective count counsel, are you okay with that? >> yes. as an attorney i practice law, and when i make a mistake, i'll admit it. and i'll try to rectify an injustice that's done, because that's my job as a defense attorney. >> reporter: petitioning for a new trial will take time, maybe years, and the innocence project lawyers could not guarantee success. nancy's family was not sure how much longer she could hang on. >> i had went to visit her and it was actually one of the hardest ones, almost like she couldn't take it anymore. >> reporter: it was during that prison visit in 2007 that nancy smith and her daughter amber hatched an audacious plan to get her out. >> i wasn't going to give up, but i didn't know how it was going to take me.

>> coming up, he helped put nancy smith behind bars, can he now help set her free? >> and coming up next sunday on "dateline," he's pretending to be a sweet talking stranger. >> how would you like free ice cream? >> yeah. >> this is a hidden camera test. could your child be lured into his vehicle? watch and see how real the danger is. >> he could easily shut that door and take off. >> hey, guys. what would you like. >> natalie morales puts kids to the test, including her own. >> i am partly crying but i can't believe that. >> advice every parent can use. my kid would never do that. next sunday, 7:00, 6:00 central. the 20 piece mcnuggets. what? that lovely girl caught your eye? 20 piece mcnuggets are only $4.99. you offer to share them. a conversation

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more than ten years behind bars had been hard on nancy smith. she wanted out. but in 2007, she told a parole officer she would never exchange her honor for freedom. >> she basically said why did you not take the sex offender class, and i said because i'm not a sex offender. and i didn't feel that i needed to take that class. and she said even if it meant you going home?

and i said even if it means me going home, i hadwill sit her. >> reporter: her resolve was strong, but amber's daughter said something in her mother's eyes that summer worried her. >> i had looked at her, and almost like she couldn't take it anymore. and i said what can i do? is there anyone i can call? she said call anyone you can. i don't know where to start. i didn't know where to start either. >> reporter: so she started with the phone book. her finger found the number for lorain's police chief, cel rivera. >> i left my name, amber, nancy smith's daughter. within minutes he called back, and set up a meeting for the next day. >> reporter: for amber, it was a random call. but within seconds of entering rivera's office, she knew it was the right call. >> he gave me a hug and started crying. >> reporter: you didn't know his involvement involvement?

>> i didn't know his involvement. he never mentioned what involvement he had. >> reporter: cel rivera oversaw the head start investigation. that's him running the lineup. the chief told her privately that police had felt pressured by the media parents and prosecutor's office to make arrests in this case, arrests that in hindsight, amber said the chief regretted. >> he said that he was sorry and that he believed that there was an injustice made. he wanted to do anything he could to help, to bring her home. >> reporter: so a cop who had helped put nancy in prison, volunteered to help get her out. he taught amber how to use a tiny tape recorder and sent her out to get one of the now grown kids to testify against her to say none of the had ever actually happened on tape. >> i remember saying we only need one. one kid to say that. >> reporter: but that was a tall order. even if she could get them to talk, what would they remember?

>> when i went to one of the girls and asked her if she would talk to me? and she said, of course. i asked her if it happened and she basically said she doesn't remember it. >> reporter: did she say anything more convincing than i don't remember or i don't know? she said she could give me her cell phone number and maybe talk outside of her job. unfortunately, the next day when i called, her mother answered and kind of hung up the phone. >> reporter: there may have been a reason for that. after the criminal trial, margie grondin and the parents of thee other children won multimillion dollar settlements against head start operators. the parents involved have not responded to "dateline's" request for interview and are apparently bound by confidentiality agreements. one lawyer said all i or my client can say is the case is settled. you think that was the driving force behind this whole saga?

>> i think so. >> reporter: money. >> i think that's why now nobody will tell the truth, because they were awarded the money. >> reporter: amber and the chief changed tactics. >> i said, look, it's another option. it's clemency. i gave her the forms, and said this is what you have to do. >> reporter: for months, they met, mostly on saturday mornings to strategize. the chief and the daughter of a woman he helped put in jail. then one day, amber says the chief stopped returning phone calls. >> there was about three months, where i hadn't heard anything from him, and i had told one of our attorneys, mark, the things that he had been saying and he basically denies everything i told mark. and out of the blue, i get another e-mail from him to come and meet with him. >> reporter: amber says this time she wanted proof that the chief believed in her mother's innocence. so she brought along that tiny

tape recorder that the chief had taught her to use. >> some of the things the kids said are bizarre. >> reporter: and are you nervous? >> i think i was the first couple of times. but even when he was denying to my attorneys he never said any of that, i still had trust in him. >> it wasn't a good case. we weren't even sure he was going to prosecute. >> reporter: chief rivera told "dateline" that they weren't pressured to get an arrest. but amber's tapes seem like the smoking gun. >> this is the chief of police now admitting essentially that we knew this was not reliable. and this was not a good case. her testimony will eventually be -- will show they acted in bad faith and with political motivation. >> reporter: and the political motivation being? >> the parents were going and raising hell to the media. >> reporter: it was only a matter of time before word of

the rivera recordings put the case back in the news and lorain's chief of police in an awkward spot with the county prosecutor's office. >> i was very disappointed and very upset when i found out she had taped me, because i genuinely was trying to help her. i had not had contact with her since then. >> reporter: in the end, none of the mattered. in 2009, the case took a dramatic and unexpected turn, when a new actor suddenly took center stage, and this time it was someone who would actually do something. >> it wasn't that i had a hunch they were innocent. i knew it. when a screen becomes this good... colors are more vibrant, words are pin sharp, everything is more brilliant. because when a screen becomes this good... it's simply you and the things you care about. the stunning retina display. on the new ipad.

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in 2008, jack bradley was a hauned man. haunted by a case that he thought never should have gone to trial. could any of this possibly happened and the jury got it right? >> absolutely not. it was a -- a witch hunt from day one. >> reporter: after 14 years, hope was flaking away like old paint, but then bradley discovered an opening. because of a clerical error in nancy's sentencing documents, a new judge would have to resentence her. it was the second chance bradley had been longing for. >> and based upon that, i filed a motion with judge burge. >> reporter: that might have been the single most important thing nancy's lawyer ever did for her. because james burge was no rubber stamp jurist.

>> i wanted to put my own signature on the sentence and not simply sign off what was done. >> reporter: the judge reviewed pretrial interviews and medical evidence that were never presented in court. >> in a child, age 4, tells me she has been vaginally assaulted with a stick, and for there to be no evidence of it, would indicate that the story, of course, is impossible. as i got into the pretrial interview tapes, it occurred to me that there were no victims, other than the children that had been led to believe that they had been abused. >> reporter: at the end of that process, the judge says he arrived at one ines capable conclusion. >> i didn't have a hunch they were innocent. i knew it. and once i reviewed the file and

i knew it, i was going to acquit them. it was that simple. >> reporter: so nancy smith had yet another day in court. >> we're convened today in the matter of the state of ohio versus nancy smith. >> i really get confused when they start talking all of their legal lingo. >> i have absolutely no confidence these verdicts are correct, and, therefore -- >> i was kind of following it, but i was kind of confused a little bit. >> discharged. entering an acquittal on behalf of the defendants smith and the defendant allen, and this matter -- >> reporter: and just like that, nancy's nightmare seemed to be over. >> i was just stunned. that's all i can say. i -- we were just so excited. i just wanted to kiss that

ground. i always had hope, but i never really knew if i would ever go home. >> reporter: after nearly 15 years in prison, nancy smith was free. free to be a grandmother. >> good girl. >> reporter: free to once again drive the streets of her hometown. >> that st. joe's was open when i went to prison, it's been -- shut down now. >> reporter: and life was as sweet as it had ever been. judge, some people will call you a hero. do you accept that label? >> no. >> reporter: why? >> it isn't a question of heroism. i took a set of facts, i applied real-world experience and the law, and i know these people are innocent. if i were to overlook that, i would never get over it. >> reporter: but the judge's ruling it turned out, was not final. the current lorain county prosecutor was as determined to

defend the convictions as his predecessors had been. he appealed to the ohio supreme court, arcing that judge burge had overstepped his authority. last year, the court agreed and ordered the judge to resentence nancy smith and joseph allen. the supreme court basically ordered you to send these people back to prison. >> that's correct. >> reporter: why didn't you? >> shortly after i received that, the chief assistant prosecutor and attorney bradley asked me on this case not to do anything unless i heard from someone, and no one has asked me to do anything. my belief is that they are trying to come to a resolution. >> reporter: and that's where it has stood for more than a year. nancy smith and joseph allen are still living their lives in limbo neither in prison, nor exonerated, and just one bang of a gavel away from returning to prison. >> i carry a lot of stress obviously. i carry in the back of my mind

that there's -- you know, that i could possibly go brach to prison. >> reporter: tonight, nancy smith's future is in the hands of this man, ohio governor john kasich. on friday, lawyers for the ohio innocence project filed a formal clemency petition with the governor's office in columbus. it's not known when or if the governor will rule on it. >> it's our hope the governor of the state of ohio will look at this particular case and say 15 years is enough, i'm sure no one will ever admit that a mistake was made, but hopefully they'll say 15 years is enough. >> reporter: lorain's police chief cel rivera is freed and is saying so publicly the first time tonight. >> i think so many questions have been raised, she's not deserving to go back and prison and needs to be released and joseph's allen case, although all but forgotten, also needs to be reviewed. >> reporter: of course there,

are still people in lorain county that think joseph smithnancy smith and joseph allen are guilty. including attorney rose nba un bnch nban bnchbrosenbaum says in an e-mail, why are the most heinous sex offenders in this county has ever seen are still at large after the ohio supreme court has ordered their return to prison? either guilty people are free or innocent people were sent to prison. >> am i ashamed of the system? yes, i'm a part of it we can't repay mrs. smith and mr. allen for what we've taken for there them. >> reporter: for nancy smith, every day spent outside of prison is priceless. too priceless to waste thinking

about the life that might have been. are you bitter, angry? >> you know, what was a time when i was bitter and there was a time when i was angry? but you know what? this is about me and my freedom and innocence. can i forgive and move on? absolutely. because somebody has to forgive them. so why not start with me? what kind of a christian would i be if i didn't. >> thanks to ron mott. before we leave, our thoughts go out tonight to the friends and family of mike wallace of cbs news. he died last night at 93. he had a remarkable career. most famously as a founding correspondent on "60 minutes." his reporting and interviews set a high standard for all of us in television journalism. nbc news, will have more about mike wallace tomorrow on "today," and an exclusive. at home with the duggars.