NEW YORK CITY ? A man who spent more than two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a brutal rape was freed Thursday because DNA evidence has cleared him.

Relatives of Alan Newton, 44, whooped loudly as he entered the crowded courtroom. Newton stood quietly as Judge John Byrne signed the order declaring him free.

After his paperwork was processed, Newton stepped outside the courthouse, thanking his attorneys and offering his sympathy to the woman whose rape led to his wrongful conviction.

“My unjust conviction denied both of us justice,” Newton said. “It opens up old wounds and denies her closure.”

The nonprofit Innocence Project and prosecutors from the Bronx district attorney’s office had asked for Newton’s 1985 conviction to be vacated based on recent testing on a rape kit used for the woman.

Newton was convicted of raping the 25-year-old woman in an abandoned Bronx building in 1984 and was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.