News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMinesecurityprison-incarceration — Viewing Item


Black man innocent of murder freed after 27 years { April 29 2008 }

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5740216.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5740216.html

April 29, 2008, 4:16PM
Dallas man freed by DNA testing after 27 years in prison

By SCHUYLER DIXON Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

DALLAS — James Lee Woodard could have been out of prison long ago, had he just confessed to a parole board that he was guilty of killing his girlfriend in 1980.

But the convicted Dallas man eventually stopped attending those hearings rather than admit to something he said he didn't do. Instead, he waited 27 years until a judge on Tuesday made him the nation's longest-serving inmate to be freed as a result of DNA testing.

"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 after making his ruling, which must be formalized by an appeals court or a pardon from Gov. Rick Perry.

Woodard, jailed since New Year's Day 1981 after his girlfriend was raped and murdered, became the 18th person in Dallas County to have his conviction cast aside. That's more than any other county in the nation, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center that specializes in overturning wrongful convictions.

Wearing a purple shirt and tie with a black sport coat, Woodard stepped out of the courtroom and raised his arms to a throng of photographers. Supporters and others in a crowded hall outside the court erupted in applause.

"I thank God for the existence of the Innocence Project," Woodard, 55, told the court. "Without that, I wouldn't be here today. I would be wasting away in prison."

Overall, 31 people have been formally exonerated through DNA testing in Texas, also the most in the U.S. That does not include Woodard and at least three others whose exonerations are not yet official.

Like nearly all the exonorees, Woodard maintained his innocence throughout his time in prison. But seven letters to police and prosecutors, six writs with appeals courts and two requests for DNA testing went nowhere. Eventually, he was labeled an abuser of the system, according to the Innocence Project.

"On the first day he was arrested, he told the world he was innocent ... and nobody listened," said Jeff Blackburn, chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas.

Blackburn and prosecutors hailed Tuesday's hearing as a landmark moment of frequent adversaries working together.

Since the DNA evidence was tied to rape and Woodard was convicted of murder, Innocence Project attorneys had to prove that the same person committed both crimes. They said they couldn't have done that without access to evidence provided by Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins' office.

"You've got to have very good lawyers with a lot of experience and skill ... working on both ends of this case, hard," Blackburn said. "And you've also got to have government power behind what you do."

Under Watkins, Dallas County has a program supervised by the Innocence Project of Texas that is reviewing hundreds of cases of convicts who have requested DNA testing to prove their innocence.

While the number of exonerations on Watkins' watch continues to grow, he said this one was a little different.

"I saw the human side of it, and seeing the human said of it just gives you more courage to advocate for issues like this," said Watkins, who had breakfast with Woodard on Tuesday morning. "It gives me that resolve to go even further to find out who (the killer) is so that we can get him into custody."

Woodard was sentenced to life in prison in July 1981 for the murder of a 21-year-old Dallas woman found sexually assaulted and strangled near the banks of the Trinity River.

He was convicted primarily on the basis of testimony from two eyewitnesses, said Natalie Roetzel, the executive director of the Innocence Project of Texas. One has since recanted and the accuracy of the other has been questioned, Roetzel said.

Four men previously exonerated in Dallas County cases attended the hearing for Woodard, who was presented $100 by one of them.

Woodard said his family was "small and scattered," although he pointed out a niece in the courtroom. He said his biggest regret was not being with his mother when she died while he was in prison.

"I can tell you what I'd like to do first: breathe fresh, free air," Woodard said during a news conference in the courtroom after the hearing. "I don't know what to expect. I haven't been in Dallas since buses were blue."



confederate-law
deathpenalty
force-confession
planting-guns
rockefeller-law
tulia-texas
1 in 99 americans in jail { January 2008 }
25percent of worlds prisoners
3 days in nyc jails { November 23 2002 }
Black man imprisoned 25 years freed by dna { April 23 2007 }
Black man innocent of murder freed after 27 years { April 29 2008 }
Black prison rate reach peak { April 7 2003 }
British police new supergun for rioters { October 9 2005 }
California highest percapita jail population outside china { November 18 2003 }
Correctional population hits record 7m { July 26 2004 }
Correctional services corporation builds texas detention center
Corrections 7m ap
Corrections 7m reuters
Crime rose 2001
Dna clears florida man of 1981 rape and robbery { January 14 2006 }
Dna exoneration { August 26 2002 }
Dna tests free man in prison 25 years
Drug laws dont reduce drug crime
Fbi method sent innocent hundreds to prison { November 18 2007 }
Federal prisons packed
Halliburton contracted to build immigration jails
Highest adult imprisonment world { August 18 2003 }
Inmates not violent
Innocent british prisoner charged with living expenses
La riots one year later { April 29 2002 }
Lawmakers seek to end business boom behind bars { February 23 2005 }
Man cleared by dna after 17 years
Microsoft cheap labor in prisons { March 19 2001 }
Millions behind bars
One in 37 done time
One of every 75 men in prison { May 27 2004 }
Overcrowded prisoners to take sleep shifts
Poor lawyers in death sentence { June 26 2003 }
Prison labor grows { March 19 2000 }
Prisoner claims legal injection cruel and unusual { January 23 2006 }
Prisoners grew by 900 inmates a week during 2004 { June 30 2003 }
Prisons add 1000 inmates each week { May 21 2006 }
Prisons colleges
Racial segregation continues in california prisons
Record 7 million adults in prison system { October 2006 }
Record high
Sentencing in doubt after supreme court decision { June 25 2004 }
Supreme court gives sentencing power to juries { June 26 2004 }
Supreme court transforms sentence guidelines { January 13 2005 }
Uk prison population hits new record
Worlds highest incarceration rate { August 18 2003 }
Young inmates caged drugged state study finds { January 28 2004 }

Files Listed: 46



Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security
Archives
Support one-state solution for Israel and Palestine Tea Party bumper stickers JFK for Dummies, The Assassination made simple