Search Term(s):
Blog Tags:
Order by: Date Relevancy
Your search returned 3 entries.
The Texas Exonerated
Posted: October 27, 2008 4:05 pm
A feature in this month’s Texas Monthly profiles 37 people cleared with DNA testing after serving a combined 525 years in prison.
The first thing you notice is the eyes—they all have the same look in them, the look of men accustomed to waking up every morning in a prison cell. These 37 men spent years, and in some cases decades, staring through bars at a world that believed they were guilty of terrible crimes. But they weren’t. Each was convicted of doing something he did not do. It’s hard to characterize the look in their eyes. There’s anger, obviously, and pride at having survived hell, but there’s also hurt, and a question: “Why me?”Visit the Texas Monthly website for video of a photoshoot with 21 exonerees and audio slideshows telling the stories of more than a dozen.
The short answer is simple: People make mistakes. Most of these cases share a common story line: A woman, usually a traumatized rape victim, wrongly identifies her attacker. Sometimes her testimony is backed by rudimentary serology tests. Sometimes the cases are pushed too hard by aggressive police officers or prosecutors.
Tags: James Giles, Entre Nax Karage, Carlos Lavernia, Brandon Moon, Christopher Ochoa, Anthony Robinson, Ronald Taylor, Patrick Waller, James Waller, Gregory Wallis
His First Thanksgiving at Home
Posted: November 26, 2008 3:00 pm
Since his release from Texas prison in July, Patrick Waller has been on the road to see family and friends.
He has put more than 7,000 miles on his truck, hitting the road to make up for the 16 years he lost while imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit.
Mr. Waller, 38, has driven to see his oldest son play football at Langston University in Oklahoma. Almost daily he drives from his North Dallas apartment to Oak Cliff to visit his mother.
And for his first Thanksgiving after being freed from prison, Mr. Waller planned to drive to Magnolia, Ark., to spend the holiday with his grandmother and the rest of his family…
“I know I’m blessed,” Mr. Waller said while sitting on a barstool inside the apartment he shares with a cousin. “I have a tight-knit family. We take care of one another. I’m thankful for them and the fact that they didn’t give up on me.”
Read the full story here. (Dallas Morning News, 11/26/08)
Tags: Patrick Waller
Friday Roundup: The First Day and The First Year
Posted: May 29, 2009 3:54 pm
Jerry Lee Evans was freed in Dallas this week after serving 22 years in prison for a crime DNA proves he didn’t commit. Patrick Waller and Steven Phillips, two of the 18 people exonerated by DNA in Dallas before Evans, joined him on Larry King Live Wednesday night. They wrote on King’s blog about their first day of freedom:
Waller: “My first day of freedom was a true breath of fresh air! I actually kissed the ground – after I kissed my mother of course.”
Phillips: “That day I was finally exonerated after 26 years of wrongfully serving time for crimes I didn’t commit – that was a day The Lord made!”
And earlier today we posted about Dean Cage’s first year of freedom. He told the Chicago Tribune this week: “"If I didn't have the support of my family, I don't know what I would have done.”
Meanwhile, Tim Kennedy could be freed in Colorado while awaiting on a new trial for a 1991 murder he has always said he didn’t commit. He was convicted based in part on the FBI’s use of comparative bullet lead analysis (CBLA), a discredited technique discontinued in 2005, which was used to trace a bullet from the crime scene to a box of bullets in his possession.
Kennedy’s case and others are posted on the Just Science Coalition’s news page – visit Just-Science.org for weekly updates on forensic news.
CBS affiliate KPHO in Phoenix profiled the Arizona Justice Project, a member of the Innocence Network. The project is working to reach out to prisoners whose cases could be wrongful convictions.
New York exoneree Jeffrey Deskovic will speak about his case in New York City on Monday. More information is available on Facebook.
Tags: Steven Phillips, Patrick Waller