No. They had already received previous backlash from the public because his son was known for marrying a white woman. Another time journalism helped bring justice into worldview was in the Walter McMillian case. In the 1988 trial, under a controversial Alabama doctrine called "judicial override", the judge imposed the death . We invite you to learn more about the clients featured in the book below. On August 17, 1988, the jury of eleven whites and one African American found McMillian "guilty of the capital offense charged in the indictment"[9] and recommended a life sentence, based on the testimony of four state's informants found by the prosecution: Ralph Myers,[9] a career criminal; Bill Hooks, Jr.; Joe Hightower;[9] and one other. In addition, the two witnesses who had testified that they had seen McMillians truck retracted their testimony, and admitted that they lied at trial. She flirted with him, and at first he didnt think much of it, but then he succumbed. He then slipped him a note, supposedly written by Karen Kelly, but McMillian looked confused and threw the note away. They have also lived in Winter Park, FL and Lake Mary, FL. 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. 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. memorial page for Albert Walter McMillian (13 Oct 1862-2 Oct 1948), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7915499, citing Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul . Not to mention, the way the author starts the article is genius. Journalist Pete Earley covered it in his book Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town (1995). Starting with, ordinary life lets the reader know that this could happen to anyone of color. I lost my reputation. Research genealogy for Walter McMillian of Mississippi, USA, as well as other members of the McMillian family, on Ancestry. McMillian lost an appeal in 1991 and his conviction and death sentence were affirmed. In a taped confession, Myers said he drove McMillian to the dry cleaners on the morning of Nov. 1, 1986, but McMillian entered the building alone. [10][11], The 2019 film Just Mercy dramatizes McMillian's case, and stars Jamie Foxx as McMillian and Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson, with direction by Destin Daniel Cretton, based on Stevenson's 2014 book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.[20]. - celebrated for convicting Walter McMillian - refused to release Walter McMillian despite family members, church members, black pastors, and others pleading with him and offering their testimonies - brought Walter McMillian to death row (Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama) from the county jail on August 1st, 1987 Walter McMillian (Photo/Equal Justice Initiative). McMillan whose story is depicted in the movie "Just Mercy" premiering Christmas Day 2019 never got the happy ending he deserved after his release from prison in 1993. [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. Jamie Foxx plays Walter McMillian in the film, Just Mercy. Walter McMillian photographed outside of his home surrounded by family and friends. Meanwhile, six witnesses testified in McMillians defense, saying he was hosting a fish fry at his house during the crime. The way the content is organized, Walters legal case serves as the central storyline of the book. "[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. [3] "Just Mercy," a movie about the case, opens in theaters this . The crime took place at the Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville. he sees the report about EJI for the first time. "[5] This practice, called judicial override, allows "elected trial judges to override jury verdicts of life and impose death sentences." McMillian had explained to Sheriff Tate shortly after his arrest that he was at the fish fry on the morning of November 1. HBOWalter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. I cant imagine how infuriating it must be to experience something like this. Walter " Johnny D. " McMillian (October 27, 1941 - September 11, 2013) [1] was a pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Equal Justice Initiative With his conviction overturned, Walter McMillian was released from death row in 1993. In the case Walter McMillian v. State proceedings it was recorded that Myers identified Larry Ikner, and Thomas Tate, as the law enforcement officers. "[6] Stevenson disagreed, telling the court that "it was far too easy to convict this wrongly accused man for murder and send him to death row for something he didn't do and much too hard to win his freedom after proving his innocence. 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. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Walter had 3 siblings: Isabelle Page (born Mcmillan) and 2 other siblings. At least 48 people have been released from prison after serving time on death row since 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence. "[6], McMillian was known in the small community for having an affair with a white woman, Karen Kelly. . In 1992, Ed Bradley reported that the wrong man might have been sitting on Alabama's death row. McMillian was looking at two options for his sentence: death by electrocution, or life in prison. 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. Chestnut and Bruce Boynton, later testified that the state withheld evidence that proved his innocence. Walter Miles McMillian's Geni Profile. In 1988, Walter McMillian, a black man, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for murdering an 18-year-old white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. [5], Six years after the original trial, in an unrelated case, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals found that the prosecutor, District Attorney Theodore Pearson, and Judge Key "had practiced 'intentional racial discrimination' in jury selection. Equal Justice Initiative Walter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. Known to his friends and family as Johnny D, Mr. McMillian spent 15 harrowing and tortuous months on Alabamas death row before trial. It was a pleasure to read this article about William McMillan. Birthplace: GA, United States. 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. 416 pp. His story was a counter narrative to the rhetoric of fairness and reliability offered by politicians and law enforcement officials who wanted more and faster executions. [6] McMillian's attorney then filed a motion to dismiss all charges. Tell The jury recommended a life in prison, but judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr. overrode their recommendation and imposed the death penalty. "[3] Monroe County was described by The Guardian as "a remote, dirt-poor region of pine trees and bean farms". The false testimonies claimed that they had seen McMillian near the cleaners the morning of the murder. Stevenson recounts the story that Ralph Myers gave to police. In Alabama, Monroeville, 1986, Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a member of Monroevile's Black community and owner of a tree felling company, was arrested for the murder of 18-year-old girl Ronda Morrison at the local cleaners. His trial lasted only a day and a half. In what The New York Times described as "an extraordinary move", McMillian "was immediately sent to Alabama's Death Row, in Holman State Prison, Atmore, which is usually reserved for convicted murderers awaiting execution. Its really infuriating that the people involved received no backlash. Police, prosecutors, and judges are immune from judgments that require them to make payments to people victimized by abuse of authority. To him and his family, the money he got from picking cotton was worth a lot more than an education. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. When asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the justice system, McMillian simply replied, No. From 1990 to 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down four appeals. EJI filed civil rights lawsuits against state and local officials for incarcerating Mr. McMillian on death row before his trial in violation of his rights. 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. 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. Walter McMillian, who was born on October 27, 1941, lived in a black settlement near Monroeville where he "grew up picking cotton. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against McMillian in a civil lawsuit filed against state and local officials in Alabama, citing that a county sheriff cant be sued for money damages. 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. A very public divorce between this woman and her husband pulled Mr. McMillian into the limelight and he soon went from someone having an interracial affair to someone thought to be capable of murder. 2d 1289 (Ala.Cr.App.1992) denied the claims by McMillian's attorneys. According to NYU (where he's an Aronson Family Professor of Criminal Justice), he started representing death row inmates from the Deep South in 1985, and founded the nonprofit law organization Equal Justice Initiative in 1989. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. Sexual or romantic relationships between blacks and whites were still very much taboo, especially out in the land of forests and plantations. No fingerprints, no fibers not a single piece of physical evidence connecting McMillian to the crime scene. I lost my job. It was too easy for the state to convict someone for that crime and then have him sentenced to death. As a result, Alabama passed its 2001 compensation statute. Key had retired by 1993, During the 1993 appeal it was revealed that, "Two mechanics, Willie Nettles and Clay Kast, testified that they had modified the appellant's truck to convert it to a low-rider and that they did not do this work until several months after the commission of the crime at Jackson Cleaners. Clients. [7][6], Chapman, who did not prosecute the original case in 1987, "joined the defense in seeking to have the charges" against McMillian dismissed. After he had decided to take the appeal, he got a phone call from Judge Key discouraging Stevenson from taking the case. Instant downloads of all 1682 LitChart PDFs We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. McMillian was completely clueless as to why this was happening to him. [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. Like Walter, she is from the poor black community just outside of Monroeville. Walter McMillian was married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years. According to Myers, reinstated in 1975, the majority of Alabama death row inmates have been black, although when, that the practice is occurring. A Life on Both Sides of the Ocean Mary McMillan in her early twenties Mary McMillan was born in Boston in 1880, just a few years after her parents emigrated from Scotland. Report an error or add more information about this case. Birthdate: estimated between 1837 and 1897. Mr. McMillian was released from death row as a free man in March 1993. An effort to hold the sheriff accountable went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court ruled that Sheriff Tate was protected from liability based on immunity laws. He wasnt just enraged that his wife was cheating on him she was cheating on him with a black man. "[6][Notes 1][5] McMillian was represented by attorney J. L. Chestnut. McMillian and his wife, Minnie, met when when they were teenagers and married after she became pregnant in 1962. They separate after Walter's release, but she remains involved in his life and in his care during his long-term illness. 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. Four former death row inmates have been released from prison just this year after their innocence became apparent: Kirk Bloodsworth, Federico Macias, Walter McMillian, and Gregory Wilhoit. McMillian later developed dementia and died in 2013, but his name lives on at the center of the criminal justice reform movement. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against McMillian, holding that a county sheriff could not be sued for money damages. But we keep fighting.. [6][7][8] Both McMillian and the attorney he had in 1987, J. L. Chestnut, "contended that Mr. McMillian's relationships alone had made him a suspect. He had lost his logging business and sold car parts until he became too ill to work. 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. I find it very heartbreaking that even with inconsistencies and testimonies in favor of him, that he was still condemned because of the way he looked. Genealogy for Walter Miles McMillian (1850 - 1922) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. "[6] In a prison interview in 1993, McMillian said, "The only reason I'm here is because I had been messing around with a white lady and my son married a white lady. Wonder how many of them were white, if any minorities were serving at all. Walter McMillian passed away on September 11, 2013.7. . The 45-year-old self-employed logger had worked for several people in the community and had no criminal history. 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. Since then, the EJI has made some landmark advances in leveling . I have suffered pain, agony, loss, and fear in degrees that I had never imagined possible, he testified in 1993. He suffered mentally and physically to the point where he developed early on-set dementia. This set off a chain of events that changed Mr. McMillians life forever. Skip Ancestry main menu Main . McMillian, was charged with first degree murder, the murder of a very well known white girl in the community. On Feb. 23, 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed McMillians conviction and ordered a new trial. WRONGFUL CONVICTION 2 In Monroeville, Alabama November 1, 1986, a white woman by the name of Ronda Morrison was murdered. / Walter McMillian (left) celebrates with family after Bryan Stevenson won his release from death row in 1993. Yes. Death: Immediate Family: Son of Laban Parks McMillian and Ada Kirk. His case lacked evidence but he was still. Again, great work! The upcoming film, Just Mercy, focuses on a petition for a new trial led by Walter McMillians lawyer, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative. Albert Walter McMillian. McMillian, who had "no prior felony convictions",[12] was arrested by newly elected Sheriff Tom Tate, who was under pressure to find a suspect. Stevenson then visited McMillian's community and "met dozens of African-Americans who were with this condemned man at the time the crime took place 11 miles away who absolutely knew he was innocent. Kellys husband called McMillian to testify in their divorce proceedings. The person of interest was a black man named Walter McMillian. Subsequently, McMillian settled with other officials for an undisclosed amount. Until his dying wish he did not receive justice for his wrongful conviction. 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 the first time in six years, Walter McMillian was a free man. This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McMillan research. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. Were going to keep all you niggers from running around with these white girls. Myers had pled guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term. October 10, 1995. He "did not have a history of violence. 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. Soon, he went from being a man who had an interracial affair to someone capable of murder. It was too easy for one person to come into court and frame a man for a murder he didnt commit. [7][9] Myers pleaded guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term.[7]. Stevenson, now 60, continues his social justice work in Alabama. Part of the evidence revealed a tape where a witness confessed to having been pressured to frame McMillan. "[5] It emerged that Sheriff Tate and investigators with the Monroe County D.A. At the trial, Hooks kept his testimony and claimed to have seen the truck near the Jackson Cleaners at the time of Ronda Morrisons murder.3, McMillian was innocent. For months, the police could not solve this case. At last, Walter McMillian was a free man again, after spending six years on death row.6, Once McMillian was free and returned to his hometown, he sought compensation. When he visited McMillian in prison,[10][16][Notes 4][17] McMillian maintained his innocence. After, Stevenson agrees to work with the CBS program 60 Minutes to produce a story about, an innocent man in prison until the real murderer is found. 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. Struggling with distance learning? Its narrative backbone is the story of Walter McMillian, whom Stevenson began representing in the late 1980s when he was on death row for killing a young white woman in Monroeville, Ala., the . Throughout the case, Stevenson battles political and legal maneuverings, as well as overt and institutional racism, all in the name of fighting for . 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. . He was subjected to graphic questions about the nature of his and Kellys relationship, and he left the courtroom feeling uneasy. What seemed to bring him attention is that hed had an affair with a married white woman. McMillian is portrayed by Jamie Foxx and Stevenson is played by Michael B. Jordan, the "Black Panther" star who has used his considerable leverage to bring the story to the screen. One of his friends said they were working on that same truck that morning; the transmission was out of it. The community heard about the tragedy as many had gathered for a fish-fry at McMillans home to raise money for their local church. Hooks later testified at McMillians trial. Contact profile manager; View family tree; He met Karen Kelly, who was 25 and unhappily married, at the Waffle House where he ate breakfast. / Bryan Stevenson speaks with reporters after oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012. 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. They were close their community and church. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Walter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. In 1988, Walter McMillian, a Black man, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for . In November 1992, he told CBS News 60 Minutes that Alabama was preparing to execute the wrong. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. We would often talk about situations and people connected to the case that, for all the damage they had caused, had still made us laugh at their absurdity. Despite insisting he was at a church fish dry with dozens of witnesses, including a police officer, he was seen as a suspect. 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 smell of someone you know burning to death is the most painful and nauseating experience on this earth. [7], In the fall of 1992, McMillian's case received national attention in the CBS News program 60 Minutes. Our death penalty system treats you better if youre rich and guilty than if youre poor and innocent. Stevenson next calls to the stand Clay Kast, was being held on death row as punishment for refusing to continue his testimony against, testimony while Ikner, Tate and Benson coerce him to continue. Mr. McMillians experience on death row was traumatic. TRIAL: Defense asked for the trial to be moved from Monroe County to Baldwin County in Alabama due to the publicity. He was a family friend, and the rumor was that hed been lynched for dating a white woman. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. The appellant, Walter McMillian, was jointly indicted with Ralph Bernard Myers in a two-count indictment on December 11, 1987, in Monroe County, for the offense of murder made capital because it was committed during a robbery in the first degree, a violation of 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. His sole criminal record was a suspended sentence for a bar fight. [9], On February 23, 1993, in Walter McMillian v. State in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, all judges concurred that "the state suppressed exculpatory and impeachment evidence that had been requested by the defense, thus denying the appellant due process of law, requiring the reversal of his conviction and death sentence, and the remand of the case for a new trial. The petition also alleged that the state of Alabama "had violated his constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeachment information". Developed dementia and died in 2013, but his name lives on at the fish fry at house! Ralph Myers gave to police sole criminal record was a suspended sentence for a he! As other members of the book below row for a bar fight hed been lynched for dating a woman. Pled guilty as a free man in March 1993, or life in prison how many of were! Fingerprints, no fibers not a single piece of physical evidence connecting McMillian to testify in their divorce.... 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