A National Park Service officer stands guard (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

John McNeil has been in prison for five and half years after being found guilty on murder charges.  McNeil was convicted even though eyewitnesses and police officers testified on his account that the shooting, which occurred in front of his home, was self-defense.  Now the NAACP has decided to support McNeil in his pursuit of an appeal. The Wilson Times reports:

Both the state and Wilson chapters of the NAACP are holding a news conference on the Wilson County Courthouse steps this morning at 11 a.m. to bring attention to the case of a Wilson man and former Fike High basketball star they say has been wrongly imprisoned.

John McNeil, a Wilson native, has been in a Georgia prison now for five and a half years for shooting and killing a man in his driveway. McNeil and supporters say the shooting was in self-defense and should have been covered by Georgia’s castle laws.

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