That one testimony of Hooks was all it took to convict him for the murder of Ronda Morrison. The Alabama Bureau of Investigation ultimately confirmed the evidence uncovered by EJI and determined that Mr. McMillian was innocent, but prosecutors still wavered on whether they would join the motion filed by EJI to dismiss all charges against Mr. McMillian. 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. HBOWalter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. When he asked for an explanation, they loudly and angrily said that he was being charged with sodomy for assaulting a man. Stevenson tries to hasten, rushes to the courthouse to pick up the 35-page ruling in which the judge nullifies, Before a new trial can be scheduled, Stevenson files a motion to have all of, The morning of the hearing, Stevenson tells, A camera crew came to the U.S. to interview EJI and people theyd represented, including. Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures. The following week, on March 2, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing all charges against McMillian. Walter McMillian (Photo/Equal Justice Initiative) On November 1, 1986, the body of 18-year-old part-time clerk Ronda Morrison was found under a rack of clothing at Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville, Alabama. I don't give a damn what your people say either. Were going to keep all you niggers from running around with these white girls. Years later when the case settled, the compensation was much less than had been hoped. Sheriff Tate was never removed from office; he retired in 2019. Myers was picked up for a different murder, that of a poor white woman named Vickie Pittman. In the 1988 trial, under a controversial Alabama doctrine called "judicial override", the judge imposed the death . 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. 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. [9][Notes 5], In 1992 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in McMillian v. State 594 So. [7][14], McMillian's "appellate lawyers discovered that prosecutors had withheld evidence and that the state's star witnesses had lied. After six months, the police had a possible person of interest. Still, the police were desperate to wrap up the Morrison case, and they felt that this was their opportunity. Testimony of the trial lasted a day and a half. "[3] Monroe County was described by The Guardian as "a remote, dirt-poor region of pine trees and bean farms". After six months with no leads or suspects, their attention focused on Walter McMillian. He first encountered Walter while he was on death row (20). They had already received previous backlash from the public because his son was known for marrying a white woman. Equal Justice Initiative Walter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. Judge Key warns Stevenson not to take on the case of, death row inmates. This story is just one of the many injustices colored people must experience. Weeks later, at around 10:45 a.m. on Nov. 1, 1986, 18-year-old Ronda Morrison a white college student who was beloved by the local community was found dead at a Monroeville dry cleaners, where she worked part-time. Walter married Maggie Ella McMillan (born Miller) on month day 1908, at age 24 at marriage place. The prosecution presented their three witnesses: Myers and the two men who said they saw McMillians low-rider truck outside the dry cleaners on the morning of the murder. The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law. But we keep fighting.. Several months later, police arrested 30-year-old Ralph Myers, a career criminal, on suspicion of murdering a woman in nearby Escambia County. McMillian recalls his time there as a terrible experience. The community heard about the tragedy as many had gathered for a fish-fry at McMillans home to raise money for their local church. 53 records for Walter Mcmillian. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. In Alabama, elected trial judges were authorized to override a jurys life verdict and impose the death penalty. For many death row inmates, it takes years to get the kind of legal representation and investigation necessary to prove your innocence., Learn more about Walter McMillian by reading "Just Mercy". Myers said he heard popping sounds, and that when he entered the building he found McMillian, with a gun, standing over the dead body of Morrison and robbing her. Kellys husband called McMillian to testify in their divorce proceedings. I am also worried about others. "[9][Notes 6][3][12] In pursuing those claims, the attorneys obtained the original recording of Myers' confession. But when the word got out about their affair, he grew worried. Her . The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Home; . But the jury 11 white members and one black member took the prosecutions word. Research the McMillian family Start your family tree now. The people of Monroeville, Alabama was shaken up with fear and anger by Morrison's murder. When he visited McMillian in prison,[10][16][Notes 4][17] McMillian maintained his innocence. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES No. On November 1, 1986, the body of 18-year-old part-time clerk Ronda Morrison was found under a rack of clothing at Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville, Alabama. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. McMillian (Jamie Foxx) was an African-American pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of 18-year-old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk. After an investigation revealed that McMillians truck was converted to a low-rider six months after the crime took place, the eye-witnesses recanted their testimony and admitted to lying. Advertisement. It was too easy for one person to come into court and frame a man for a murder he didnt commit. McMillian, who had "no prior felony convictions",[12] was arrested by newly elected Sheriff Tom Tate, who was under pressure to find a suspect. The way the content is organized, Walters legal case serves as the central storyline of the book. No fingerprints, no fibers not a single piece of physical evidence connecting McMillian to the crime scene. This is the true story of Walter McMillian, the wrongfully convicted man behind the film Just Mercy. Today, more than 160 people who were on death row have been proved innocent and released. Stevenson's uncle died in prison . October 10, 1995. memorial page for Albert Walter McMillian (13 Oct 1862-2 Oct 1948), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7915499, citing Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul . Early History of the McMillan family. Journalist Pete Earley covered it in his book Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town (1995). Judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr., "had McMillian await trial on death row, as if a death sentence were a foregone conclusion, and relocated the trial from a county that was forty per cent black to an overwhelmingly white one," Baldwin County, where 86 percent of the residents were white, because the case had "generated extraordinary publicity. Plus, McMillian didnt fit the profile of a murderer: He had no prior felony convictions, just one misdemeanor for getting dragged into a bar fight years earlier. I have suffered pain, agony, loss, and fear in degrees that I had never imagined possible, he testified in 1993. McMillian claims innocence, but in 1988 he is convicted by a jury of young Morrison's murder. 96-542 WALTER McMILLIAN, PETITIONER v. MONROE COUNTY, ALABAMA on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the eleventh circuit [ June 2, 1997 ] Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. He filed civil lawsuits against state and local officials for his wrongful conviction. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. After listening to it, they flipped the tape over and discovered a recorded conversation in which Myers complained bitterly that he was being forced to implicate McMillian, whom he did not know, for a crime neither of them had any role in. His trial start on Aug. 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. After the jury took a vote, the final decision was made, and McMillian was sentenced to death.5, In 1988, freshly graduated from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson was eager to help inmates on death row. Stevenson, now 60, continues his social justice work in Alabama. He was subjected to graphic questions about the nature of his and Kellys relationship, and he left the courtroom feeling uneasy. I had never heard about this case before reading this article, and it is unfortunate to read about McMillian and his experience. How famous was Albert Walter McMillian? 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. Despite insisting he was at a church fish dry with dozens of witnesses, including a police officer, he was seen as a suspect. The McMillian family: Walter McMillian had a family of believers. 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. (334) 269-1803 It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. 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. Known to his friends and family as Johnny D, Mr. McMillian spent 15 harrowing and tortuous months on Alabamas death row before trial. I'm going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty. industry in its place. McMillian had explained to Sheriff Tate shortly after his arrest that he was at the fish fry on the morning of November 1. This story is incredibly heartbreaking and sadly not very uncommon. Then, read the harrowing last words of 23 executed criminals. They put me on death row for six years! Resistance to acknowledging Mr. McMillians innocence was intense. As Bryan Stevenson, McMillians future lawyer, wrote in his memoir Just Mercy, Tree work is notoriously demanding and dangerous. Family History Search. I believe that needs to be discussed more, and I am glad you included how it had such a negative impact on McMillian and was traumatic. 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. 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. Walter McMillian was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. 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. 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