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. The best example of racial bias and prejudice is Walter McMillian's case because it shows both extreme racial biases and extreme racial prejudices against McMillian because of the color of his skin. In addition, the two witnesses who had testified that they had seen McMillians truck retracted their testimony, and admitted that they lied at trial. I lost my life. The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence. McMillian lost an appeal in 1991 and his conviction and death sentence were affirmed. People were more concerned with convicting an innocent man of a murder he did not commit rather than finding the victims murderer. The Morrison case had generated considerable publicity in Monroe County, which was 40 percent black, and so Walter McMillians trial was moved down south to Baldwin County which was 86 percent white. "[5] It emerged that Sheriff Tate and investigators with the Monroe County D.A. [6] McMillian's attorney then filed a motion to dismiss all charges. The trial began on August 15, 1988. EJI proved the States witnesses had lied on the stand. EJI presented this dramatic new evidence but it took six years of hearings and appeals before the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals finally ruled that Mr. McMillians conviction was unconstitutional. information about the Registry, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct. "[10], On February 23, 1993, in his fifth appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, the judges ruled 50 to reverse McMillian's conviction and grant him a new trial. Contact profile manager; View family tree; It was pointed out that Monroeville, Alabama, was "best known as the home of Harper Lee, whose To Kill a Mockingbird told a painful story of race and justice in the small-town Jim Crow South. When a mostly-white jury convicted Walter McMillian in 1988 for the murder of a white woman in Monroeville, Alabama and recommended life in prison, a local judge overruled them and imposed the death penalty instead. Financial TimesWalter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. After Mr. McMillians release in 1993, he worked hard to educate people about the death penalty, sharing his experiences with students, community groups, and elected officials across the country. DuBois's short story "Of the Coming of John", which he discusses on page 100-101. At the time of her murder, Walter McMillian was at a church fish fry, where he was seen by dozens of witnesses, one of whom was a police officer.[10][11]. After a week of interrogation by the police, Mr. Myers accused Mr. McMillian, a pulpwood worker, as Ms. Morrison's killer. All he could do was sit there and listen as three witnesses for the prosecution lied in their testimonies. App.1991). Seven months passed and every one of the polices leads went nowhere. They have also lived in Winter Park, FL and Lake Mary, FL. I am deeply troubled by the way the criminal system treated me and the difficulty I had in proving my innocence, he told the committee. Bryan Stevenson stands in 1993 with Walter McMillan, a man wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row for six years for the murder of an 18-year-old dry cleaning store clerk in Monroeville, Ala. Stevenson successfully argued that Stevenson was with family 11 miles away at the time of the crime, that witnesses had lied on the stand, and that the prosecution had illegally suppressed . I lost my reputation. When asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the justice system, McMillian simply replied, No. I am also worried about others. Thirty-six of the nearly two hundred convicts on death row are there because of override."[5]. They were close their community and church. 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. All NRE reports represent a moment in time. . Mr. McMillian was released from death row as a free man in March 1993. Tell McMillian was accused of murdering an 18-year-old girl and was put on death row. I get that Morrison was at a disadvantage when faced against white men for that exact reason, but if the testimonies were so obviously inconsistent, they should have known better. Stevenson recounts the story Myers gave during. Clients. / Bryan Stevenson speaks with reporters after oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012. .com is the online source for current local and national obituary news and a supportive community where friends and family can come together during times of loss and grieving to honor the memories of their loved ones with lasting personal tributes. They brought him to a store where McMillian and a few other black men were shopping, but Myers couldnt tell which one was his supposed partner-in-crime; he had to ask the stores manager to identify him. When Minnie became pregnant in 1962, they were married. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. Walter was implicated in the murder of Ronda Morrison, which led to a rather unfair trial against him. Her . WRONGFUL CONVICTION 2 In Monroeville, Alabama November 1, 1986, a white woman by the name of Ronda Morrison was murdered. Not at all.. Hooks later testified at McMillians trial. They knew their statements against a white mans perjured testimony didnt stand a chance.4, McMillians trial lasted two days. And this case had given him lots of fodder. A white man accused of crimes in another county was pressured by police and ultimately made false statements accusing Mr. McMillian of murdering Ms. Morrison. Please enable scripts and reload this page. His case lacked evidence but he was still. They tortured me with the promise of execution for six years. Walter McMillian photographed outside of his home surrounded by family and friends. / Walter McMillian (left) celebrates with family after Bryan Stevenson won his release from death row in 1993. Further investigation revealed that McMillians truck had only been converted to a low-rider six months after the crime took place, and that prosecutors had concealed information about a witness who had seen the victim alive after the time the prosecutors claimed that McMillian had killed her. 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. McMillian." McMillian already had a target on his back from his affair with Karen Kelly, and the police had that target in their sights. Chestnut and Bruce Boynton, later testified that the state withheld evidence that proved his innocence. This story is just one of the many injustices colored people must experience. I think everybody needs to understand what happened because what happened today could happen tomorrow if we dont learn some lessons from this, said Stevenson on the day McMillians charges were dismissed. During his interrogation, police said that they had witnesses who would testify that he had committed the Morrison murder along with Walter McMillian, a 46-year old African-American man who was notorious in the community because he had a white girlfriend. [15], Since then, the frequency of the judge override in Alabama has come under scrutiny: "Nearly seventy Alabama judges have single-handedly ordered an inmate's execution, and collectively they have done so more than a hundred times. One of his early cases was that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who is put on deathrow in 1987 for the murder of an eighteen year-old White girl, regardless of the evidence proving his innocence. Walter McMillian worked hard providing for his wife and their three children. Husband of Libbie Wood. I have plenty of friends who are sentenced 10 or 20 years in jail and they feel doomed as soon as the judge slams the gavel. In 1987 Walter McMillian (played by Foxx) was convicted of killing a white woman who was shot multiple times in the back at a dry cleaners. Genealogy for Walter Miles McMillian (1850 - 1922) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. [9] McMillian was charged with a two-count indictment "for the offense of murder made capital because it was committed during a robbery in the first degree", and the jury recommended a life sentence. 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. His story was a counter narrative to the rhetoric of fairness and reliability offered by politicians and law enforcement officials who wanted more and faster executions. The trial began on August 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. Myers was picked up for a different murder, that of a poor white woman named Vickie Pittman. A 60 Minutes segment and other national press coverage about his case led to other exonerations. McMillian later developed dementia and died in 2013, but his name lives on at the center of the criminal justice reform movement. Before you check out Jamie Foxx in the new film Just Mercy, learn the true story of Walter McMillian, an Alabama man wrongfully convicted for a brutal murder who spent six years on death row. Stevenson obtained the recording where Myers confessed to the Morrison murder, but when they flipped the tape they heard the same man complaining about confessing to a crime he and McMillian did not commit. This article illuminates how unfair and biased the justice system is to the minorities but also people of color. The story of Walter McMillian in Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is the one that I found the most intriguing. In front of the camera, In his funeral speech, Stevenson explains that , Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. What effect does this have. Walter McMillian was married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years. "[18], From 1990 to 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down four appeals. "[6], The story was featured in a 1995 book entitled Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town by former Washington Post journalist Pete Earley. -Graham S. The timeline below shows where the character Walter McMillian appears in, Stevenson explains that he will focus on the story of, general, Stevenson is amused. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. We welcome new information from any source about exonerations already on our list and about cases not in the Registry that might be exonerations. [5][14], The two witnesses who had testified that they had seen McMillian's truck retracted their testimony, and admitted that they lied at trial, committing perjury. Stevenson finishes by calling on, of the other witness testimonies. Walter McMillian. A student organization of St. Marys University of San Antonio, Texas, featuring scholarly research, writing, and media from students of all disciplines. That one testimony of Hooks was all it took to convict him for the murder of Ronda Morrison. From 1990 to 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down four appeals. He wasnt just enraged that his wife was cheating on him she was cheating on him with a black man. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town By Pete Earley Bantam. As a result, there have been no answers in Ronda Morrison's murder. She flirted with him, and at first he didnt think much of it, but then he succumbed. Bryan Stevenson took on Mr. McMillians case in postconviction. I have survived these six long years, but I am a different man. He explained the horror of seeing seven other men executed during his time at Alabamas Holman Prison: I experienced the executions with the greatest pain and with enormous fear about whether this would happen to me. It was the last state in the U.S. to overturn laws banning interracial marriage but that wouldnt happen for another 14 years. Starting with, ordinary life lets the reader know that this could happen to anyone of color. [5] In 1986 he had been married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years and they had nine children. [7], Upon discovery of this evidence, District Attorney Thomas Chapman, who had represented the state in McMillian's previous appeals, told Stevenson, "I want to do everything I can so that your client will not have to spend a single day more than he already has on death row. This set off a chain of events that changed Mr. McMillians life forever. He knew it, his family knew it, and his friends knew it. Walter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. I'm going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty. In what The New York Times described as "an extraordinary move", McMillian "was immediately sent to Alabama's Death Row, in Holman State Prison, Atmore, which is usually reserved for convicted murderers awaiting execution. Walter "Johnny D." McMillian (October 27, 1941 September 11, 2013)[1] was a pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. While McMillian did receive an undisclosed amount of compensation, it was less than he had hoped for. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. I have suffered pain, agony, loss, and fear in degrees that I had never imagined possible, he testified in 1993. Walter McMillian was among the first exonerees from death row in the modern era. With his conviction overturned, Walter McMillian was released from death row in 1993. harrowing last words of 23 executed criminals. McMillian recalls his time there as a terrible experience. At last, Walter McMillian was a free man again, after spending six years on death row.6, Once McMillian was free and returned to his hometown, he sought compensation. In addition, one of his sons had married a white woman. But the overwhelming evidence of innocence ultimately forced the State to agree to drop the charges. [9], On February 23, 1993, in Walter McMillian v. State in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, all judges concurred that "the state suppressed exculpatory and impeachment evidence that had been requested by the defense, thus denying the appellant due process of law, requiring the reversal of his conviction and death sentence, and the remand of the case for a new trial. McMillian and his wife, Minnie, met when when they were teenagers and married after she became pregnant in 1962. But we keep fighting.. How famous was Albert Walter McMillian? But when the word got out about their affair, he grew worried. In the last two years of his life, he couldnt enjoy the outdoors or get around much without help. Mr. McMillians experience on death row was traumatic. [9], Further investigation revealed that McMillian's truck, supposedly seen by witnesses at the scene of the crime, had not been converted to a "low-rider" until six months after the crime took place. In 1988, Bryan Stevenson met Walter McMillian and began working to appeal his conviction and death sentence. Its narrative backbone is the story of Walter McMillian, whom Stevenson began representing in the late 1980s when he was on death row for killing a young white woman in Monroeville, Ala., the . Find Walter Mcmillian's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. No. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. [7][9] Myers pleaded guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term.[7]. It tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who gets help from Bryan to appeal his murder conviction. 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. $23.95. McMillian presented six alibi witnesses who testified that they had been with him at a family fish fry the entire day. [4] According to his attorney Bryan Stevenson, McMillian purchased logging and paper mill equipment and became a "moderately successful businessman". A new investigation was ordered. His conviction was wrong 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. He died on September 11, 2013. 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. "[Notes 3][4], On September 19, 1988, Judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr., overruled the jury's recommendation of a life sentence and imposed the death penalty. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. [3] He died on September 11, 2013. 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 Just Mercy tells the story of EJI's clients, from Walter McMillian and Anthony Ray Hinton who were exonerated from Alabama's death row to Joe Sullivan and Ian Manuel who won release after being sentenced to die in prison for nonhomicide crimes in Florida when they were just 13 years old. One of the biggest worries is whether youll get the kind of legal assistance you need to save you from execution, he testified. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. I cant imagine how infuriating it must be to experience something like this. Tate replied, "I don't give a damn what you say or what you do. He implicated not just himself, but McMillian as well. Sentimentality about Lees story grew even as the harder truths of the book took no roots. McMillan whose story is depicted in the movie "Just Mercy" premiering Christmas Day 2019 never got the happy ending he deserved after his release from prison in 1993. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. 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. Appellant told him that "I had a lovely family to be destroyed if I . How Racism, Police Incompetence, And Lying Witnesses Put Walter McMillian On Death Row For Six Years. This is the true story of Walter McMillian, the wrongfully convicted man behind the film Just Mercy. Bryan Stevenson, McMillian's defense attorney, raised awareness on the CBS News program 60 Minutes. Before Walter McMillian was released from death row. 2. This left McMillian even more clueless as they didnt provide him with an explanation for how or why he was being charged with such a crime. Home; . In the case Walter McMillian v. State proceedings it was recorded that Myers identified Larry Ikner, and Thomas Tate, as the law enforcement officers. Before you check out Jamie Foxx in the new film Just Mercy, learn the true story of Walter McMillian, an Alabama man wrongfully convicted for a brutal murder who spent six years on death row. His truck was later examined by Bill Hooks who claimed to have seen McMillians truck at the cleaners. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. McMillian was convicted by a jury of eleven whites and one African American. He had all the evidence and witnesses he could and still knowing in the end it was useless and wouldnt help him for his case is sad. Just Mercy is a 2019 American biographical legal drama film co-written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson, Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, and Brie Larson.It explores the work of young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson who represents poor people on death row in the South. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Walter was an unlikely suspect in Ronda's murder. There are numerous examples of this shown throughout the book. There was a tragic murder of eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison. Equal Justice Initiative With his conviction overturned, Walter McMillian was released from death row in 1993. The McMillian family: Walter McMillian had a family of believers. Less than two years later, he was convicted of murder a murder he didnt commit. The case had generated an unusual amount of media coverage. Despite the lack of any physical evidence linking McMillian to the murder of a white clerk named Ronda Morrison, he was arrested for the crime more than six months after it took place. McMillians original attorneys in the trial, J.L. After he had decided to take the appeal, he got a phone call from Judge Key discouraging Stevenson from taking the case. Judge Robert E. Lee Key overrode the jurys sentence of life imprisonment and sentenced Mr. McMillian to death by electrocution. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001. Death: Immediate Family: Son of Laban Parks McMillian and Ada Kirk. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. [9][5] She had been shot numerous times from behind. The smell of someone you know burning to death is the most painful and nauseating experience on this earth. Again, great work! Judge Key warns Stevenson not to take on the case of, death row inmates. October 10, 1995. [3][12] McMillian was arrested in June 1987. In a taped confession, Myers said he drove McMillian to the dry cleaners on the morning of Nov. 1, 1986, but McMillian entered the building alone. And thats how his affair with a white woman 18 years his junior became the talk of the town. He "did not have a history of violence. Walter " Johnny D. " McMillian (October 27, 1941 - September 11, 2013) [1] was a pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. After six months with no leads or suspects, their attention focused on Walter McMillian. It took a significant toll on his health and led to him developing early-onset dementia. As a black man living in southern Alabama, McMillian didnt stand a chance. On Feb. 23, 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed McMillians conviction and ordered a new trial. Their central case is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), an independent pulpwood worker and family man known to most as Johnny D. He . Despite having various witnesses on his side, it seemed useless. Sexual or romantic relationships between blacks and whites were still very much taboo, especially out in the land of forests and plantations. What seemed to bring him attention is that hed had an affair with a married white woman. When McMillian reached adulthood, he noticed this trend and borrowed money to buy his own equipment; by the 1980s, he owned a modestly profitable pulpwood business. Police arrested McMillian (known to some friends as "Johnny D"), a black man, in 1987 and charged him with murdering an 18-year-old white woman named Ronda Morrison at a Monroeville, Alabama dry . "[9] D.A. McMillian, was charged with first degree murder, the murder of a very well known white girl in the community. The false testimonies claimed that they had seen McMillian near the cleaners the morning of the murder. What happened to Walter McMillian in a small Alabama town in 1987 has long been pointed to as a classic example of a miscarriage of justice. The sheriff arranged for Mr. McMillian to be placed on death row before his trialwhen he hadnt even been convicted of a crime. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. 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. Soon, he went from being a man who had an interracial affair to someone capable of murder. McMillian claims innocence, but in 1988 he is convicted by a jury of young Morrison's murder. At least 48 people have been released from prison after serving time on death row since 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001. The appellant, Walter McMillian, was jointly indicted with Ralph Bernard Myers in a two-count indictment on December 11, 1987, in Monroe County, for the offense of murder made capital because it was committed during a robbery in the first degree, a violation of 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. The following week, on March 2, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing all charges against McMillian. This story was very sad to read, and unfortunately a clear reality in todays times with our criminal justice system in the United States. His trial lasted only a day and a half. Key had retired by 1993, During the 1993 appeal it was revealed that, "Two mechanics, Willie Nettles and Clay Kast, testified that they had modified the appellant's truck to convert it to a low-rider and that they did not do this work until several months after the commission of the crime at Jackson Cleaners. Decades later, McMillian found himself the object of one pretty white womans flirtation. "[6] Stevenson disagreed, telling the court that "it was far too easy to convict this wrongly accused man for murder and send him to death row for something he didn't do and much too hard to win his freedom after proving his innocence. We in the African American community have always known that the criminal justice system is a threat, that it will take people who are innocent or wrongly convicted and it will treat people unfairly, Stevenson said in an interview with Essence magazine. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. 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. 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. He picked cotton with his family, went to the local colored school for a couple of years, and then went back to picking cotton at around age eight or nine. Friends knew it, and the police had that target in their testimonies media coverage knew. Grew even as the harder truths of the nearly two hundred convicts death... Alibi witnesses who testified that the state withheld evidence that proved his innocence shot numerous times from behind had to... In just Mercy alibi witnesses who testified that they had nine children relationships. Asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the U.S. to overturn banning. On at the cleaners the morning of the Criminal justice reform movement starting with, ordinary life lets the know. Row since 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence charge from a secured browser on the server in 1988 Bryan. 3 ] [ 5 ] she had been shot numerous times from behind sentenced Mr. McMillian to destroyed... Was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury to the minorities but people. 18-Year-Old girl and was an unlikely suspect in Ronda & # x27 ; s murder McMillian to death the. He had a clean record and no other charges to his name being a who... A secured browser on the CBS News program 60 Minutes through the roof ''! To take on the server being a man who had done work for many people the... Grew worried lets the reader know that this could happen to anyone of color overrode jurys. Children and lived in a Southern Town by Pete Earley Bantam long years, but I am different... Death by electrocution for his wife and their three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton about... 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