After 3 years in prison, man indicted as accessory to murder

(AP) - A man who spent three years in prison before prosecutors dropped a murder charge has now been indicted as an accessory to murder.

A Wilson County jury indicted 21-year-old James Johnson on Monday on accessory after the fact of first degree murder in connection with the 2004 slaying of 17-year-old Brittany Willis.

Kenneth Meeks was convicted in the slaying and said he committed the crime with Johnson, but he later recanted his statement.

Johnson told police he went to the crime scene with Meeks and to a car wash to clean Meeks' vehicle, but only because he feared for his own life.

Willis supporters were angered by the dropped charge, though Johnson has been publicly supported by innocence activists and the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP