Because the case generated extraordinary publicity in Monroe County, where the white population was 60 percent, the trial was moved to Baldwin County, where whites made up 86 percent of the population. 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]. It also emerged that District Attorney Theodore Pearson "had concealed evidence proving his innocence": a witness had seen the victim alive after the time when prosecutors claimed that McMillian had killed her. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. 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. The nearly all-white jury convicted Mr. McMillian of capital murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. People were more concerned with convicting an innocent man of a murder he did not commit rather than finding the victims murderer. They had an affair, and when Kellys husband found out, things took a turn. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As Bryan Stevenson, McMillians future lawyer, wrote in his memoir Just Mercy, Tree work is notoriously demanding and dangerous. It is also so sad to think about the families of those who are wronged by the justice system and to imagine what they themselves are going through. Not to mention, the way the author starts the article is genius. The Registry also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations prior to 1989. 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. The petition also alleged that the state of Alabama "had violated his constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeachment information". 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. All he could do was sit there and listen as three witnesses for the prosecution lied in their testimonies. He had a large, tight-knit family and several children with his wife Minnie, but, following an affair with a white woman, Walter was falsely accused and convicted of murdering a different white woman. Mr. McMillian was arrested, and in an extraordinary move, was immediately . Home; . McMillian already had a target on his back from his affair with Karen Kelly, and the police had that target in their sights. 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. His conviction was wrong Walter McMillian was nearly put to death for a crime he did not commit One of young lawyer Stevenson's first and most incendiary cases after founding the non-profit Equal Justice Initiative was. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. McMillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. [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. I lost my life. Bryan Stevenson discusses the outrageous miscarriage of justice in the case of Walter McMillian. [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. 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 . Walter McMillian photographed outside of his home surrounded by family and friends. We all share the condition of brokenness, even if our brokenness is not equivalent [] Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion. McMillian was then placed in a cell on death row where he waited for a year before his trial took place. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town By Pete Earley Bantam. . 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. There was no evidence proving Walter McMillians guilt, and a mountain of evidence proving his innocence and the polices and prosecutions racist complicity in his conviction. Did they ever reopen the case for the murder of Ronda Morrison, since Walter McMillians was proven to be innocent, or had the statute of limitations passed then? The crime sent shock waves of fear and anger through the small community. We have a choice. Simplified. After a week of interrogation by the police, Mr. Myers accused Mr. McMillian, a pulpwood worker, as Ms. Morrison's killer. Following his death penalty sentence, Stevenson took. Walter McMillan spent six years on death row for a crime he didn't commit, but even after the Alabama resident was exonerated, he remained tormented by his years behind bars. Walter McMillian worked hard providing for his wife and their three children. How famous was Albert Walter McMillian? With his conviction overturned, Walter McMillian was released from death row in 1993. harrowing last words of 23 executed criminals. You know theyll try to kill you if you actually get to the bottom of everything. With few ordinary comforts in his life, the attention of women was something Walter did not easily resist.. In front of the camera, In his funeral speech, Stevenson explains that , Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Part of the evidence revealed a tape where a witness confessed to having been pressured to frame McMillan. [3][12] McMillian was arrested in June 1987. 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. The officials involved in prosecuting McMillian received no punishment or removal from their positions. Less than two years later, he was convicted of murder a murder he didnt commit. This set off a chain of events that changed Mr. McMillians life forever. The crime took place at the Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville. We encourage you to research and examine these . Research genealogy for Walter Mcmillian of Florida, as well as other members of the Mcmillian family, on Ancestry. [9][5] She had been shot numerous times from behind. In his police interview, he made up all sorts of wild stories, like how the sheriff of a nearby county murdered Pittman. 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. In the 1988 trial, under a controversial Alabama doctrine called "judicial override", the judge imposed the death penalty, although the jury had voted for a sentence of life imprisonment. 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 I had never heard about this case before reading this article, and it is unfortunate to read about McMillian and his experience. This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McMillan research. Walter McMillian (1941 - 2013) . His trial start on Aug. 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. 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. He came to attention because he had an affair with a married white woman. 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". 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. Seven months passed and every one of the polices leads went nowhere. I feel sick about the six years that [McMillian] has spent in prison and the part I played in keeping him there. The way the content is organized, Walters legal case serves as the central storyline of the book. The McMillian family: Walter McMillian had a family of believers. .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. He had lost his logging business and sold car parts until he became too ill to work. The false testimonies claimed that they had seen McMillian near the cleaners the morning of the murder. Family History Search. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. He had spoken to other inmates on death row that day, but Walter's case is the one that . American wrongly convicted of murder (19412013), According to the 1993 appeal, Judge R.E.L. The author did a great job about explaining the life of Mr. McMillians and the troubles he experienced due to the fact of being wrongly convicted for a crime he didnt commit. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. Find Walter Mcmillian's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. 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. The shift largely benefited white landowners and left most blacks unemployed. [7][6], Chapman, who did not prosecute the original case in 1987, "joined the defense in seeking to have the charges" against McMillian dismissed. Morrison, who was white, had been bludgeoned, strangled and shot three times. 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. McMillian. Mr. McMillian was released from death row as a free man in March 1993. 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. . McMillian clearly recalled the moment the news got to them. [13][5][Notes 2], The "jury ignored multiple alibi defense witnesses, who were black, who testified under oath that he was at a fish fry at the time of the crime. "[3], After returning to his family and hometown of Monroeville, McMillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials, including "the three men in charge of investigating the Morrison murder Tom Tate, the Sheriff of Monroe County; Larry Ikner, an investigator with the District Attorney's office in Monroe County; and Simon Benson, an investigator with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation",[19] for his wrongful prosecution and conviction. In Alabama, elected trial judges were authorized to override a jurys life verdict and impose the death penalty. While McMillian did receive an undisclosed amount of compensation, it was less than he had hoped for. [3] A journalist described him as a "black pulpwood worker". What do we tell these children about how to stay out of harms way when you can be at your own house, minding your own business, surrounded by your entire family, and they still put some murder on you that you aint do and send you to death row? McMillian later developed dementia and died in 2013, but his name lives on at the center of the criminal justice reform movement. I feel like they done put me on death row, too. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. 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. A week later, prosecutors dismissed the charges. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. The racial bias against McMillian is shown in his interactions with the law . He was subjected to graphic questions about the nature of his and Kellys relationship, and he left the courtroom feeling uneasy. After reading about the remarkable life and work of attorney Bryan Stevenson, whos saved hundreds from prison, learn all about the case of the Central Park Five, a group of non-white teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of brutally raping a white woman in the 1980s. 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. For months, the police could not solve this case. And thats how his affair with a white woman 18 years his junior became the talk of the town. Kellys husband called McMillian to testify in their divorce proceedings. WRONGFUL CONVICTION 2 In Monroeville, Alabama November 1, 1986, a white woman by the name of Ronda Morrison was murdered. Walter McMillian. 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. He writes that Norton was uninterested in the subject of, career, but had become passionate about the work of EJI after interning one summer. Stevenson recounts the story that Ralph Myers gave to police. But when the word got out about their affair, he grew worried. "[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. Walter Lester McMillian, 72, of Fancy Gap, died May 26, 2002, in Beverly Health Care-Blue Ridge. And he had an alibi: He was at a family fish fry the morning Ronda Morrison was murdered. It was too easy for one person to come into court and frame a man for a murder he didnt commit. Thirty-six of the nearly two hundred convicts on death row are there because of override."[5]. Mr. McMillian was an unlikely suspect. "[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. Last Updated December 25, 2019, 8:30 AM. Myers was picked up for a different murder, that of a poor white woman named Vickie Pittman. 2d 1253 (Ala.Cr. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. McMillian was shocked and absolutely saddened to hear about it. 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. "[6] He was held there, pre-trial, for 15 months. In 1992, Ed Bradley reported that the wrong man might have been sitting on Alabama's death row. It tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who gets help from Bryan to appeal his murder conviction. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. 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. [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. The following week, on March 2, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing all charges against McMillian. He was allowed forty-five minutes of exercise per day and a few hours in the day room per week. Police were skeptical that Myers and McMillian were really accomplices, and so they conducted an experiment. A deputy then revealed to McMillian that the initial charge was only a way to impound his truck. on our list, Other
Walter Miles McMillian's Geni Profile. Still, the police were desperate to wrap up the Morrison case, and they felt that this was their opportunity. 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. Although there are still injustices for colored people in todays society, it Definitely has gotten better and Im glad that were working towards that. "[9] Myers confessed that "he knew nothing about the crime, that he was not present when the crime was committed, that he had been told what to say by certain law enforcement officers, and that he had testified falsely against McMillian because of pressure from the officers. Stevenson recounts the story Myers gave during. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Things would be fine, he thought, as long as everything was kept secret. Research the McMillian family Start your family tree now. Until his dying wish he did not receive justice for his wrongful conviction. McMillians original attorneys in the trial, J.L. 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. As depicted in Just Mercy, Walter McMillain's case was among the first - and the most important - of attorney Bryan Stevenson's career.After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1985, nearly a year before Morrison's murder (an inaccuracy in the film's timeline), Stevenson moved first to Atlanta, Georgia and then to Montgomery, where he helped form the Alabama Capital Representation . They were close their community and church. The sheriff arranged for Mr. McMillian to be placed on death row before his trialwhen he hadnt even been convicted of a crime.
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