Tennessee man in prison on false accusation gets new parole hearing

A Nashville father in prison on false allegations that led to his revoked parole in 2014 will get a new hearing before the Tennessee Board of Parole, a board spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The date of that hearing has not yet been set, according to Melissa McDonald, spokeswoman for the parole board. She said the board finished its initial review of Robert E. Polk's case on Wednesday and granted him a new hearing.

"We received three votes to set another revocation hearing," she said.

She did not have the names of the board members who granted the hearing, and said the date of the hearing would be set once legal notifications went out to the people involved in the case.

Tennessee man still in prison 2 years after wife's lie

"I'm thankful that the parole board is finally doing its job, but it's pathetic it's taken this long and this much effort to get to this point," said Will Conway, a Nashville criminal defense lawyer who previously represented Polk.

Polk's parole in a drug case was revoked after his wife claimed she threatened him with a gun in November 2014, court and parole board records show. His next release hearing had been set for January 2018.

But in September, Assistant District Attorney General Vince Wyatt sent a letter to the Board of Parole, informing them that Polk's wife had been convicted of perjury and admitted she made up the incident. Wyatt dropped the domestic violence charges against Polk about a year ago and sent his letter to the board on Sept. 26, records show.

The board has been reviewing Polk's case since. McDonald confirmed on Wednesday the board would give Polk a new hearing, the same day The Tennessean published an account of his situation online. She said the timing was a coincidence.

Conway, who was critical of the delay at the board, said the board needed to release Polk immediately.

"There's nothing to review," he said.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.