Your search returned 12 entries.

Dispatch from Louisiana: As an innocent man is freed, why can't others get a test?

Posted: January 14, 2008 2:24 pm

By Vanessa Potkin, Innocence Project Staff Attorney

(Sabine Parish, Louisiana) — This morning I sat with Rickey Johnson as a Louisiana judge ended the 26-year nightmare that has been Rickey’s adult life. He was 26 years old when he was arrested for a rape he didn’t commit. Today, he is 52.

The victim identified Rickey in a terribly misleading photo lineup – the photo of Rickey was eight years old and there were only two other pictures to choose from. Several months later, a jury convicted him of the crime and sentenced him to life in prison. He spent the next 9,136 days at Louisiana’s massive state prison at Angola.

Rickey was engulfed by family as he walked into the free world this morning– several of his relatives had come to welcome him home, and others will be reunited with him in the next few days. Watching Rickey taste freedom for the first time in more than a quarter of a century is mind-boggling. The joy was palpable, but it was impossible to comprehend that he spent nearly his entire adult life at Angola for a crime he didn’t commit.

And while this is Rickey’s day to celebrate, my mind turned to two other Innocence Project clients who will go to sleep again tonight at Angola. Archie Williams has been fighting for 13 years to simply have DNA evidence tested in his case. The tests can prove his guilt or innocence beyond any doubt, but East Baton Rouge District Attorney Doug Moreau has fought Archie’s appeal at every turn. The same is true for Kenneth Reed, convicted in East Baton Rouge and unable – so far – to have DNA testing conducted in his case.

Tomorrow Rickey will join other Louisiana exonerees and relatives of Archie Williams in calling for statewide access to DNA testing when it can prove innocence. An innocent man’s quarter-century behind bars will be in vain if we are not able to learn from his nightmare and correct the problems in our criminal justice system that convict the innocent and keep them behind bars without fair, fast appeals. It’s only right that Rickey’s case should lead to testing for Archie Williams, Kenneth Reed and others seeking to prove the truth.

Read today’s Innocence Project press release on Rickey Johnson’s exoneration.

Tags: Rickey Johnson, Dispatches

 

Exonerees demand statewide DNA testing at press conference today in Louisiana

Posted: January 15, 2008 12:27 pm

Today at 1 p.m. in Baton Rouge, Rickey Johnson – who was freed yesterday after serving 25 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit – will speak out for inmate access to DNA testing. Johnson would not be free today if he weren’t from Sabine Parish, where District Attorney Don Burkett worked with the Innocence Project to secure testing in the case and has now said he will help Johnson push for compensation for the injustice he suffered.

Defendants convicted in other parts of Louisiana have not met with such cooperation. Two Innocence Project clients – Archie Williams and Kenneth Reed – are seeking DNA testing that can prove their innocence. Both men were convicted in East Baton Rouge, and local district attorney Doug Moreau has fought to prevent them from receiving the tests. Williams, who spent time with Johnson at Louisiana’s state prison at Angola, has filed 10 motions over the last 13 years seeking DNA testing. Moreau has fought every one. In August, a state appeals court finally granted DNA testing in Williams’ case, but Moreau appealed that decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which has not decided whether to hear the appeal.

“Rickey left Archie Williams behind at Angola, where he continues waiting for the DNA tests that can prove his innocence or confirm his guilt,” Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck said yesterday. “Rickey Johnson wants to look Doug Moreau in the eye and share his profound personal experience with DNA testing. We will ask Mr. Moreau to immediately drop his state Supreme Court appeal and consent to DNA testing in Archie Williams’ case.”

Read the Innocence Project press release here for more details on today’s press conference and the cases of Archie Williams and Rickey Johnson.

Press coverage of Rickey Johnson’s exoneration:

Shreveport Times: Louisiana man is “free at last”

Johnson exonerated after serving 26 years of life sentence

Tags: Rickey Johnson, Archie Williams

 

Video: Louisiana exoneree embraces freedom and calls for access to DNA testing

Posted: January 16, 2008 5:25 pm

Yesterday in Louisiana, Innocence Project client Rickey Johnson said it felt wonderful and surreal to be free and surrounded by family. Johnson, who was exonerated on Monday by DNA tests proving his innocence after serving 25 years in prison, was reunited with his three children and surrounded by dozens of relatives. Also joining Johnson yesterday were others exonerated by DNA testing.

Johnson also spoke out yesterday in support of his friend Archie Williams, who has been fighting for DNA tests in his case for 13 years. Williams’s family members said they had waited too long for the testing they believed would set Williams free. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Doug Moreau has refused to cooperate with Williams’ requests for testing, and a prosecutor in Moreau’s office told reporters yesterday that she believed the victim’s recollection of a scar on the perpetrator proves Williams’ guilt just as strongly as DNA evidence.

Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck disagreed. “It’s foolish to believe in an eyewitness when there is scientific evidence to prove the facts,” Scheck said yesterday. Scheck noted that in Johnson’s case, the victim identified him as the perpetrator – but DNA testing ultimately proved his innocence.

Read the full story – and watch video coverage of Johnson’s statements – here. (Baton Rouge Advocate, 01/16/08)

Tags: Rickey Johnson

 

Louisiana editorial calls for DNA testing access and exoneree compensation

Posted: January 22, 2008 9:22 am

Innocence Project client Rickey Johnson, who was exonerated last week after serving 25 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit, is eligible for $150,000 in state compensation. But the process for receiving the compensation is cumbersome, and only two of the 10 Louisiana exonerees have been compensated.
An editorial in Sunday's Shreveport Times calls for Louisiana lawmakers to increase exoneree compensation to the federal standard of $50,000 per year served and to streamline the process so needy exonerees aren't denied state funds. The editorial also praises District Attorney Don Burkett, who supported Johnson's appeal for testing and is helping him apply for compensation.

But not all innocent inmates live in Burkett's jurisdiction. Other Innocence Project clients in Louisiana have sought DNA testing for years (13 years for Archie Williams in East Baton Rouge), only to meet with resistance at every turn. The editorial calls for access to DNA testing for inmates when it can prove their innocence.

Read the full editorial here.

Tags: Alabama, Rickey Johnson, Archie Williams

 

New video: Louisiana exonerees reunite after 16 years

Posted: June 19, 2008 10:19 am

Rickey Johnson and Calvin Willis met in Louisiana’s notorious Angola prison in the 1980s and quickly became friends. Although they didn’t discuss their cases in prison, the two men were both fighting to overturn their wrongful convictions. Willis learned about the Innocence Project and contacted us seeking assistance. When he found out that Rickey was also seeking DNA testing, he shared the Innocence Project’s address with him.

In the early 1990s, they were moved to different sections of the 5,000-inmate prison and they lost touch. In 2003, Rickey heard that Calvin had been exonerated, but he wasn’t able to say goodbye. Rickey waited for his own exoneration until 2008, when DNA test results proved his innocence of the rape for which he was serving a life sentence. He had served 25 years before his release in January. Today he says he wouldn’t be free if it weren’t for Calvin.

The two friends were finally reunited at the Innocence Network Conference in March. Watch a new video of the men’s emotional reunion, and listen as Calvin describes the moment shackles were removed from his hands and feet.

“It felt like my hands just rose up,” Calvin says.

“I know the feeling,” Rickey responds. “I know the feeling.”

Louisiana exonerees meet for the first time in 16 years [video: 04:12]

Tags: Louisiana, Rickey Johnson, Calvin Willis

 

Louisiana exoneree to receive $150K in compensation

Posted: July 7, 2008 3:25 pm

Rickey Johnson, who was freed in January after serving 25 years in Louisiana’s Angola prison for a rape he didn’t commit, will receive $150,000 in compensation from the state for his wrongful incarceration. While Johnson says that no amount of money could ever replace the years he lost, he is looking forward to using the money to start a new business making leather goods such as belts and wallets.

“Rickey Johnson lost more than a quarter of a century, nearly his entire adult life, to a wrongful conviction. He had three young children when he was arrested, and a fourth was born shortly after he was incarcerated; all of those children are now adults,” said Vanessa Potkin, the Innocence Project staff attorney representing Johnson.

Read the full story here. (Leesville Daily Leader, 07/07/08)

Watch a new Innocence Project video of Johnson and fellow Louisiana exoneree Calvin Willis reuniting after Johnson’s release.

Johnson’s compensation comes under a state law that pays exonerees $15,000 for each year they served, to a maximum of $150,000. While Louisiana is one of 25 states with a compensation law, the amounts provided in the law are well behind the federal standard of $50,000 per year served, with no maximum. Several states, including Texas, Utah and Florida, have recently passed laws matching the federal amount, and the Innocence Project strongly supports efforts by lawmakers to bring state compensation laws in line with federal recommendations to include critical social services as well as financial payments.

What’s the law in your state? Find out on our interactive map.

Tags: Louisiana, Rickey Johnson, Exoneree Compensation

 

Ninth anniversary of NY exoneration

Posted: September 4, 2008 3:50 pm

Monday marked the ninth anniversary of the day Habib Wahir Abdal walked out of a New York prison after serving 16 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Abdal was convicted in 1983 of a rape he didn’t commit, based partly on eyewitness misidentification.

In 1982, a woman was attacked in a nature preserve by an African-American man in a hooded sweatshirt. She was blindfolded by the attacker. Abdal was picked up by police four months later and police conducted a “show up,” where they brought the victim to Abdal and asked if he was the attacker. Police officers told the victim before the show up that Abdal was the suspect, but she did not identify him at first as the perpetrator. She then viewed a four-year-old photo of Abdal, returned to the show up, and identified him as the perpetrator.

Although forensic evidence pointed to his innocence and Abdal didn’t match the victim’s initial suspect of the attacker, he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. He sought DNA testing to prove his innocence starting in 1993, but tests were inconclusive. It would be six more years before conclusive DNA testing proved Abdal’s  innocence and led to his exoneration.

Abdal’s case is an example of one where advancing DNA science led to exoneration after earlier tests were inconclusive. Other cases like this include the exonerations of David Gray and Rickey Johnson.

Tags: Habib Wahir Abdal, David A. Gray, Rickey Johnson

 

One Year Free, Already on His Feet

Posted: January 14, 2009 5:35 pm



One year ago today, Innocence Project client Rickey Johnson walked out of a Louisiana courtroom a free man for the first time in 25 years. In the photo above, he embraced his daughter on the morning of his release.

Today, he marked his one-year exoneration anniversary in a unique way: by opening a business. During his 25 years in Louisiana’s Angola prison, Johnson learned to be a master leatherworker; he now makes beautiful boots, clothing and accessories of all sorts. Today, he opened a leather goods store, RJ Leather Shop, in his hometown of Leesville, Louisiana. He plans to sell his creations in the shop and make special custom products for customers.

Johnson received $150,000 in state compensation in his first year of freedom. Although he acknowledges that no amount of money can truly compensate him for half of his life, he says the money helped him begin to get on his feet.

Almost all exonerees receive nothing immediately upon their release, and only those in 25 states are eligible for state compensation. Many struggle to rebuild their lives after they are freed. Read more about life after exoneration, and Innocence Project’s work with our clients after their release, here.

Other exoneration anniversaries today:

Ronnie Taylor, Texas (Served 12 Years, Exonerated 2008)

Dale Brison, Pennsylvania (Served 3.5 Years, Exonerated 1994)



Watch a video of Rickey Johnson reuniting with his long-lost friend, exoneree Calvin Willis.

Tags: Rickey Johnson

 

Video: Rickie Johnson Opens His Shop

Posted: January 15, 2009 11:10 am

We posted yesterday about Louisiana exoneree Rickie Johnson opening a leather goods shop in his hometown on the one-year anniversary of his exoneration. He told reporters yesterday at his grand opening:

“Basically I’m fixing to go to work.  The first year has been like a little vacation but I like to stay busy.  I’m a busy man so I’m going to do what I know how to do and make money at the same time.”

Watch video of Johnson making belts in his shop and explaining how he learned leatherworking from a fellow prisoner he only knew as “Who Dat.” (KALB News, 01/14/09)

And read more about Johnson’s new shop in the Shreveport Times.

Tags: Rickey Johnson

 

Help Free the Innocent and Send a Father’s Day E-Card

Posted: June 17, 2009 4:35 pm

Father’s Day is just four days away. This year, instead of a gadget or a pair of socks, give dad a gift that has an impact. Please donate to the Innocence Project today in the name of a special dad in your life, and you’ll have the chance to send or print a custom e-card. You can send a meaningful Father’s Day gift and help to reunite an innocent prisoner with his family – and it will take less than five minutes.

Please click here to donate and send an e-card.

Today, La’Keisha Butts wrote to Innocence Project email subscribers about reuniting with her dad, Rickie Johnson, after he had served 25 years in prison. She wrote:

My father is my hero and an inspiration to so many people he met over the years. Not only did he survive a quarter-century in prison, he did it with a positive outlook on life. When he would tell me years ago that he was sure he’d be free someday, I would admire his optimism but take it with a grain of my own realism, knowing the odds were against him. Now I know that the truth can overcome the odds any time. Whenever I feel down about anything, I think about my dad’s strength and his triumph.

This Father’s Day, I’ll be celebrating my dad’s freedom and thinking of all of those other families who aren’t so lucky. Please give to the Innocence Project today to help free the innocent from prison and grant a Father’s Day wish for a daughter like myself.

Tags: Rickey Johnson

 

Tomorrow on Tom Joyner: My Dad Was Exonerated

Posted: November 16, 2009 5:35 pm

La’Keisha Butts, the daughter of Louisiana exoneree Rickie Johnson, will join the Tom Joyner radio show Tuesday morning to discuss the issues surrounding wrongful conviction and the experience of seeing her father freed after decades of wrongful conviction.

Tune in online here at 9 a.m. EST Tuesday to hear Jacque Reid interview Butts for the “Inside Her Story” segment.

Johnson served 25 years in Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project set him free. This year on Father’s Day, La’Keisha wrote to Innocence Project email subscribers about her dad:

My father is my hero and an inspiration to so many people he met over the years. Not only did he survive a quarter-century in prison, he did it with a positive outlook on life. When he would tell me years ago that he was sure he’d be free someday, I would admire his optimism but take it with a grain of my own realism, knowing the odds were against him. Now I know that the truth can overcome the odds any time. Whenever I feel down about anything, I think about my dad’s strength and his triumph.

Listen online here Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. EST.

Read more about Johnson’s case here.

Tags: Rickey Johnson

 

Thankful for Freedom

Posted: November 24, 2009 5:55 pm

We have a lot to be thankful for this year at the Innocence Project – from the joy of seeing our clients walk out of prison to rejoin their families after decades behind bars to successful policy reforms across the country to prevent wrongful convictions. We’re also thankful for our dedicated – and growing – network of supporters, who worked tirelessly this year to help free the innocent from prison and raise awareness of wrongful convictions and the causes of injustice.

We asked five of our clients what they’re thankful for this week, and we found their answers pretty inspiring. Here’s what they said:

	JOHN RESTIVO, Florida "I’m grateful to the Innocence Project and all of its supporters this Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for the hope they gave me when they first took my case, and I'm grateful to be spending Thanksgiving with my family this year, instead of in prison."
	JAMES GILES, Texas "I feel blessed this Thanksgiving. It's amazing that sometimes we forget all of the things that God makes possible. I’m so happy to be free and to able to share my blessings with friends and family this Thanksgiving."
	BYRON HALSEY, New Jersey "I’m thankful to be home for Thanksgiving. I now have a choice of what to do with my life — in prison you have no choices. Even though life can be hard these days, I wouldn’t trade what I have for anything."
	BARRY GIBBS, New York "I’m thankful that I’m free and alive. I’m surrounded by good people and I’ve got my health. I can travel and live my life and I’m lucky to have a great support network."
	RICKIE JOHNSON, Louisiana "I'm thankful to be free this Thanksgiving and to have my family back in my life after so many years."

 

Tags: James Giles, Byron Halsey, Rickey Johnson, John Restivo