Criminal Justice
18th Innocent Man Freed in 1 Texas County; Officials Vow Change
Posted Apr 30, 2008, 06:15 pm CDT
By Martha Neil
For the 18th time in approximately seven years, an innocent man cleared by DNA testing reportedly has been released from prison by one Texas county.
This time it was 55-year-old James Woodard who walked out of a Dallas courtroom yesterday, a free man. He had served 27 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend—the longest time ever spent in prison by anyone subsequently exonerated by DNA testing, Reuters reported. Like many other wrongfully convicted individuals, he is a black man, the news agency writes, and his case "highlight[s] problems in the local justice system that include what critics have said is a history of racism and racial profiling."
Woodard could have been released earlier, if he admitted his "guilt" in the rape-murder to the state parole board. But he refused to do so, reports the Associated Press.
"It says a lot about your character that you were more interested in the truth than your freedom," state District Judge Mark Stoltz told Woodard as he ordered his release. To formally be declared innocent, Woodard must now obtain an appellate court order or a pardon from the Texas governor, according to AP.
The deluge of wrongful convictions in Dallas County—reportedly there have been 18 inmates since 2001 who were cleared by DNA testing, the most in any one county in the country—has caught the attention of state lawmakers, according to Reuters and the Innocence Project. (Counts on the number of innocent prisoners freed in Dallas County have varied in different media reports; however, 18 now appears to be the current, correct number although some news reports say it is 17.)
In a press release, the project says Rodney Ellis, a Texas state senator, has promised reform and organized a landmark Summit on Wrongful Convictions at the state capitol in Austin on May 8 to address the issue.
"We've reached a tipping point on wrongful convictions in Texas. Nobody can seriously doubt that there's a problem, and next week leaders from across our criminal justice system will come together to start solving it,” Ellis tells the Innocence Project. "We will bring a wide range of leaders, experts and exonerees together for a full day to develop concrete, common-sense remedies to make our system of justice more fair and accurate. We won’t solve these serious problems in one day, but we will make historic strides toward restoring confidence in our criminal justice system.”
Meanwhile, the Dallas County district attorney says he intends to lobby for change, including the statewide establishment of "conviction integrity units," reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.
Investigators were initially steered in the wrong direction by the victim's stepfather. He told police that Woodard came to their home the night she was murdered and asked for the 21-year-old woman, but the stepfather says he now believes he was mistaken, reports the Dallas Morning News.
The error was compounded, the newspaper says, when prosecutors illegally withheld from the defense at trial exonerating evidence about three other men who were with the victim the night she was murdered. Two of the three were later convicted of sexual assault.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Texas Man Innocent in Rape Case; 16th Wrongful Conviction in Dallas County"
ABAJournal.com: "Free at Last After 25 Years, Former Inmate Marvels at Life"
ABAJournal.com: "Columnist Asks, How Can I Trust the Justice System?"
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Comments
Posted by Innocence Advocate - 2 months, 3 days, 22 hours, 48 minutes ago
Many people have rushed to condemn Texas due to the discovery of so many wrongly convicted individuals. At the same time, it is important to give Texas credit for preserving exculpatory evidence. Many states do not do so and the innocent are less likely to be rescued from false convictions in such states. It is possible that Texas has no more false convictions than other states but does a better job of preserving the chance to correct its mistakes.
Posted by JoJo - 2 months, 3 days, 22 hours, 23 minutes ago
In an interview by a TX state official about a year or so ago, as broadcast on TV and radio, the official said that TX destroys all evidence once a person has been executed. He said it was to free-up storage space since the evidence is no longer needed. It would seem that the most likely reason is that it prevents anyone from ever determining that an innocent person was executed.
Posted by wr - 2 months, 3 days, 22 hours, 18 minutes ago
"prosecutors illegally withheld from the defense at trial exonerating evidence about three other men who were with the victim the night she was murdered”
How about disbarment and prison time for the prosecutors. Oh - they are probably retired or holding political office now.
Posted by Innocence Advocate - 2 months, 3 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes ago
I’m sure the prosecutors have absolute immunity. The case SOTUS just granted certiorari deals with prosecutorial immunity and they’ll probably take away the last bit of check anyone has on rogue prosecutors.
Posted by Chris - 2 months, 3 days, 18 hours, 7 minutes ago
How does this article get fewer comments than those regarding attorney pay and what we wear in the court room?
With so many errors, many in capital cases, how can anyone in good conscience defend the death penalty?
What is the right number of dead innocent men and women to make such a final solution tolerable?
Take capital cases out. Does anyone really think the mountain of cash Mr. Woodard will receive as an apology from the state will make up for the lost years?
Every lawyer in this nation should be embarrassed by such grievous miscarriages of justice.
Posted by T-Lynn - 2 months, 3 days, 16 hours, 15 minutes ago
This article gets so few comments because everyone is busy shooting off about the other article on affirmative action. I have collected quite a few articles on these cases and Georgia seems to have its fair share as well.
This is not about rushing to convict Texas, how about rushing to change the system? How many of those 18 in Texas were able to actually PAY for legal defense at their trial?
Posted by DH - 2 months, 3 days, 9 hours, 28 minutes ago
And what of the prosecutors who unlawfully withheld evidence? Does anyone plan to seek sanctions or file criminal charges against them? The United States has more adults incarcerated (and a higher percentage of the adult population) than any other developed country. Our criminal justice system is, frankly, an outrage.
Posted by Foundation for Prison Constuction Contractors and - 2 months, 14 hours, 26 minutes ago
Prosecutorial miscondunct is the norm. If they want a conviction, they generally get it. On the positive side DNA shows promise: it looks like Austria might have beaten us out for the most heinous crime against family members in history with Fritzl. DNA evidence to the rescue again. Note 1 billion to one were good odds in OJ Simpson and perhaps Phil Spector.