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Rae Carruth's defense attorney speaks on Carruth's plans after prison

"He'd like to have a relationship with Chancellor and I think he's going to try to establish that to some degree. Obviously its going to be difficult and he knows that."

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After nearly two decades in prison, Rae Carruth is about to be a free man.

As for his immediate future, he's planning to get into a car and leave North Carolina. Carruth's lead defense attorney, David Rudolf, spoke to WCNC by phone just a few weeks after he last spoke with Carruth.

"I can't get into exactly where he's going to be – won't be a halfway house," Rudolf said. "He wants to start over someplace other than [North Carolina]."

Carruth was convicted of conspiring to kill his pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams in January, 2001. The former Panthers wide receiver never took the stand but his defense always maintained he didn't witness the moment triggerman Brett van Watkins killed Adams.

"I fired one shot and four more shots, bam bam bam," van Watkins said at the trial.

Now though, Rudolf says Carruth admitted he saw van Watkins car approaching Adams as she was driving. Carruth told his former attorney he ran out of fear -- he allegedly thought they were coming after him, not Cherica.

Carruth also told Rudolf he is hopeful that he can somehow be in his son's life. Adams was 30 weeks pregnant when she was shot – her then unborn baby was delivered via an emergency cesarean section and was born with cerebral palsy because of the incident.

Cherica's mom has raised Chancellor Lee Adams since her daughter was killed. Chancellor is now 18.

"He certainly wants to start over," Rudolf said. "He'd like to have a relationship with Chancellor and I think he's going to try to establish that to some degree. Obviously its going to be difficult and he knows that."

Beyond that, Rudolf says Carruth is hoping to do some good.

"He very much wants to have a positive impact, not just on Chancellor but on the world in general," Rudolf said. "I think he's committed to doing what he can to put his life back together."

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