James Curtis Williams and Raymond Jackson spent over 25 years behind bars for a rape and shooting they did not commit.

The Crime

On November 19, 1983, a 27-year-old white woman was abducted from a parking lot outside a Dallas bar. She was approached by two black men armed with guns who forced her into her car, pistol-whipped her, and then repeatedly sexually assaulted her after driving a short distance away. She was able to escape the car, but was shot in the buttocks while running. Her attackers drove away in her car, which was later found abandoned.

The Investigation

A week after the attack, Raymond Jackson and James Curtis Williams were stopped by the police and questioned in connection with a separate incident. As part of the investigation for this other crime, their pictures were taken for a lineup. However, their pictures were also placed into the lineup for the November 19 rape and shooting. The victim, who had survived, subsequently identified Jackson and Williams as her attackers.

Although both men had alibis, they were charged with aggravated sexual assault.

The Trial

At trial, the victim identified the two men again. Through this identification, the jury also learned about past crimes committed by Jackson and Williams. When the prosecutor showed the lineup photos to the jury, their prior criminal records for burglary and robbery were written on the back.

Jackson and Williams each presented their alibis. Jackson said that he was playing cards with friends at the time of the crime. Williams said that he was at home with his wife, and had even been talking to his boss on his home telephone around the time of the crime. However, four witnesses testified that they had seen two black men with the victim’s car the weekend after the crime. Three of these identified Williams and one also identified Jackson.

A state serologist testified that semen was detected on the vaginal swab of the victim, and also on her dress. She said that the sample matched Williams along with 14% of the adult black male population. In his closing statements, the prosecutor said that the semen matched Williams’s “blood semen fingerprint.”

Williams and Jackson were each convicted of aggravated sexual assault by the all-white jury and sentenced to life in prison.

Post-Conviction

After decades in prison, Jackson was released on parole in 2010, and Williams was released in 2011. Meanwhile, the Dallas Conviction Integrity Unit accepted their request for DNA testing in 2010 after biological evidence in the case was located. Testing was conducted on material from the victim’s clothing and her rape kit. Williams and Jackson were excluded, and a CODIS hit was subsequently obtained to two other currently incarcerated offenders. Though the statute of limitations for rape has expired, the two men have confessed to the crime. On April 30, 2012, a judge declared Williams and Jackson innocent. They were officially exonerated on July 16, 2012. 

Williams and Jackson, who are related by marriage, will both have to register as sex offenders. They pled guilty to a second sexual assault after they had been sentenced on the wrongful conviction. It’s not known if there is evidence available for testing in the second case.