That one testimony of Hooks was all it took to convict him for the murder of Ronda Morrison. Ariana Brockington. In 1998, he joined other survivors at a national conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty attended by more than 1,000 lawyers, law students, professors, and criminal justice reform advocates. Bryan, who was the attorney on Walter's case, was young and just starting his career. Morrison, who was white, had been bludgeoned, strangled and shot three times. The reveal of the witness being pressured to testify proves that the laws that help prevent these things dont always work. "[10][11], On December 11, 1987, Walter McMillian and Ralph Bernard Myers, a career criminal,[13] were jointly indicted. Walter is related to Jane Marie Price and Jaline Renae McMillan as well as 3 additional people. He had spoken to other inmates on death row that day, but Walter's case is the one that . Select this result to view Walter McMillian's phone number, address, and more. It also emerged that District Attorney Theodore Pearson "had concealed evidence proving his innocence": a witness had seen the victim alive after the time when prosecutors claimed that McMillian had killed her. In 1988, Walter McMillian, a Black man, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for . Find Walter Mcmillian's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. Soon, he went from being a man who had an interracial affair to someone capable of murder. Appellant, Walter McMillian, was jointly indicted with Ralph Myers, in a two-count indictment, on December 11, 1987, in Monroe County, for the capital offense of murder committed during a robbery in the first degree, in violation of 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. . You know theyll try to kill you if you actually get to the bottom of everything. There were dozens of Black people who could testify to his innocence but they were ignored. They were close their community and church. It was appealed to the United States Supreme Court,[19] which ruled against McMillian, holding that a county sheriff could not be sued for monetary damages. The McMillian family: Walter McMillian had a family of believers. The trial began on August 15, 1988. About $35 was missing. At least 48 people have been released from prison after serving time on death row since 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence. [3][12] McMillian was arrested in June 1987. Walter McMillian, left, and Bryan Stevenson, right (Photo from the Equal Justice Initiative) In 1986, an 18-year-old White woman named Ronda Morrison was murdered at Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville, Alabama. His truck was later examined by Bill Hooks who claimed to have seen McMillians truck at the cleaners. His trial start on Aug. 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. industry in its place. On the other hand, maybe the jury has more fault, since surely the defense attorney would had pointed out the inconsistencies of the witnesses testimonies, meaning that it cant be trusted, but the majority of them ultimately decided to turn a blind eye too. Sponsored by Ancestry. Walter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. Karen confirms that Myers never met, Stevenson describes the situation preceding, The hearing begins. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against McMillian, holding that a county sheriff could not be sued for money damages. Myers had pled guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term. He came to attention because he had an affair with a married white woman. Stevenson presented the newfound evidence at hearings and appeals before the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. $23.95. The . After a week of interrogation by the police, Mr. Myers accused Mr. McMillian, a pulpwood worker, as Ms. Morrison's killer. In 1988, Walter McMillian, a black man, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for murdering an 18-year-old white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. He first encountered Walter while he was on death row (20). It was the last state in the U.S. to overturn laws banning interracial marriage but that wouldnt happen for another 14 years. Its really infuriating that the people involved received no backlash. Chestnut and Bruce Boynton, later testified that the state withheld evidence that proved his innocence. Another time journalism helped bring justice into worldview was in the Walter McMillian case. "[6], McMillian was known in the small community for having an affair with a white woman, Karen Kelly. We have all hurt someone and have been hurt. McMillian is portrayed by Jamie Foxx and Stevenson is played by Michael B. Jordan, the "Black Panther" star who has used his considerable leverage to bring the story to the screen. But McMillian always proclaimed his innocence. Stevenson was in his 20s and eager to take on the case, even though the unfortunately named judge discouraged him from doing so. Last Updated December 25, 2019, 8:30 AM. October 10, 1995. This article was very sad and eye opening for the treatment of black men in a still prejudice south. 's office and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) had "pressured [Myers] into lying about Mr. Husband of Libbie Wood. [9], Following his own trial and sentencing, Ralph Bernard Myers told McMillian's trial counsel that the testimony he gave "against McMillian was false. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration During the closing argument of the trial, the state emphasized the victim's beauty and her life, as well as the brutality of her murder. Mr. McMillian was arrested, and in an extraordinary move, was immediately . Within weeks, McMillian was transferred to a maximum-security state prison in Atmore, Alabama. Subsequently, McMillian settled with other officials for an undisclosed amount. Walter often sought better work to support his family. It tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who gets help from Bryan to appeal his murder conviction. At the trial, Hooks kept his testimony and claimed to have seen the truck near the Jackson Cleaners at the time of Ronda Morrisons murder.3, McMillian was innocent. Instant downloads of all 1682 LitChart PDFs This story is incredibly heartbreaking and sadly not very uncommon. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. In 1988, Bryan Stevenson met Walter McMillian and began working to appeal his conviction and death sentence. He had no prior criminal history and was a 45-year-old self-employed logger who had done work for many people throughout the community. An uncle of the murder victim, in fact, came by and told them she was killed, witnesses said. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town By Pete Earley Bantam. Walter had 3 siblings: Isabelle Page (born Mcmillan) and 2 other siblings. McMillian, freed from death row in 1993, died September 11, 2013, at age 71. He filed civil lawsuits against state and local officials for his wrongful conviction. [5], Six years after the original trial, in an unrelated case, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals found that the prosecutor, District Attorney Theodore Pearson, and Judge Key "had practiced 'intentional racial discrimination' in jury selection. I cant imagine how infuriating it must be to experience something like this. He was allowed forty-five minutes of exercise per day and a few hours in the day room per week. He implicated not just himself, but McMillian as well. List of wrongful convictions in the United States, "Death of justice in Alabama: Brian Baldwin was condemned to the electric chair by a racist travesty", "Double Jeopardy: In Alabama, a judge can override a jury that spares a murderer from the death penalty", "Alabama Releases Man Held On Death Row for Six Years", Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, "An Alabama Sheriff, a Mystery Check and a Blogger Who Cried Foul", "Alabama frees black man on death row for 6 years - Walter McMillan", "One Lawyer's Fight For Young Blacks And 'Just Mercy', Jamie Foxx in Talks to Join Michael B. Jordan in Legal Drama 'Just Mercy', Equal Justice Initiative - Walter McMillian, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_McMillian&oldid=1134436044, Overturned convictions in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 17:56. McMillian and his wife, Minnie, met when when they were teenagers and married after she became pregnant in 1962. In Alabama, Monroeville, 1986, Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a member of Monroevile's Black community and owner of a tree felling company, was arrested for the murder of 18-year-old girl Ronda Morrison at the local cleaners. (334) 269-1803 Report an error or add more information about this case. One of the many Alabama cases assigned to him is that of. From my cell you could smell the stench of burning flesh. He had a large, tight-knit family and several children with his wife Minnie, but, following an affair with a white woman, Walter was falsely accused and convicted of murdering a different white woman. McMillians original attorneys in the trial, J.L. Either way, its a shame that not only our officers, but our prosecutors, which I believe work closely with the police department (at least more than defense attorneys), have also been shown to be racially biased. McMillian was looking at two options for his sentence: death by electrocution, or life in prison. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. They found evidence that the States witnesses against Mr. McMillian had been coerced, including tape recordings proving that the States only eyewitness had been pressured to testify falsely at Mr. McMillians trial. As a gregarious guy who owned his own business rare for a black man in the area McMillian was a bit of a local celebrity. Walter McMillian. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. He "did not have a history of violence. - celebrated for convicting Walter McMillian - refused to release Walter McMillian despite family members, church members, black pastors, and others pleading with him and offering their testimonies - brought Walter McMillian to death row (Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama) from the county jail on August 1st, 1987 He was a family friend, and the rumor was that hed been lynched for dating a white woman. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. Tate replied, "I don't give a damn what you say or what you do. [4] According to his attorney Bryan Stevenson, McMillian purchased logging and paper mill equipment and became a "moderately successful businessman". Walters sense of humor hadnt failed him despite his six years on death row. Alabama Releases Man Held on Death Row for Six Years, Walter McMillian's Statement to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Wrongfully Convicted Man Recalls Death Row, 122 Commerce Street Montgomery, AL 36104 "Michael has. Despite having various witnesses on his side, it seemed useless. He was then taken to the local jail where the charge was quickly dismissed. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. "[6], Eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk, was murdered at Jackson Cleaners on November 1, 1986, in Monroeville, Alabama. After reading about the remarkable life and work of attorney Bryan Stevenson, whos saved hundreds from prison, learn all about the case of the Central Park Five, a group of non-white teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of brutally raping a white woman in the 1980s. Resistance to acknowledging Mr. McMillians innocence was intense. Walter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Struggling with distance learning? Kellys husband called McMillian to testify in their divorce proceedings. Less than two years later, he was convicted of murder a murder he didnt commit. As depicted in Just Mercy, Walter McMillain's case was among the first - and the most important - of attorney Bryan Stevenson's career.After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1985, nearly a year before Morrison's murder (an inaccuracy in the film's timeline), Stevenson moved first to Atlanta, Georgia and then to Montgomery, where he helped form the Alabama Capital Representation . Things would be fine, he thought, as long as everything was kept secret. . Walter "Johnny D." McMillian (October 27, 1941 - September 11, 2013) was an African American pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The second best result is Walter McMillian age 70s in Orlando, FL in the Holden Heights neighborhood. Mr. McMillian was with his family 11 miles away from the dry cleaning store where Ms. Morrison was murdered at the time of the crime. In 1993, after McMillian had served six years on Alabama's death row, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the lower court decision and ruled that he had been wrongfully convicted. An effort to hold the sheriff accountable went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court ruled that Sheriff Tate was protected from liability based on immunity laws. They separate after Walter's release, but she remains involved in his life and in his care during his long-term illness. This set off a chain of events that changed Mr. McMillians life forever. A very public divorce between this woman and her husband pulled Mr. McMillian into the limelight and he soon went from someone having an interracial affair to someone thought to be capable of murder. His conviction was wrong Innocence conference at Northwestern Law School, Chicago, 1998. His days were spent twenty-three hours a day in a dark cell. They tortured me with the promise of execution for six years. The case outlines the basic premise of frustrated local law enforcement, the DA of Monroe County, needed to, for lack of a better term, save his ass. The suspect, who was from a prominent family then fled town. It was a pleasure to read this article about William McMillan. [13][5] Two of the witnesses claimed to have seen McMillian's "low-rider" truck outside the dry cleaner's around the time that the crime occurred. He wasnt just enraged that his wife was cheating on him she was cheating on him with a black man. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. But the overwhelming evidence of innocence ultimately forced the State to agree to drop the charges. The real-life Walter McMillian (left) and lawyer Bryan Stevenson. HBOWalter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. Grandmother . They lived in a sharecropper's shack. Judge Robert E. 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