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. He had a large, tight-knit family and several children with his wife. He died on September 11, 2013. Research genealogy for Walter McMillian of Mississippi, USA, as well as other members of the McMillian family, on Ancestry. 416 pp. It was a pleasure to read this article about William McMillan. McMillian was accused of murdering an 18-year-old girl and was put on death row. [7][14], McMillian's "appellate lawyers discovered that prosecutors had withheld evidence and that the state's star witnesses had lied. Walter McMillian photographed outside of his home surrounded by family and friends. memorial page for Albert Walter McMillian (13 Oct 1862-2 Oct 1948), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7915499, citing Oakland Cemetery, Saint Paul . Less than two years later, he was convicted of murder a murder he didnt commit. 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. McMillian lost an appeal in 1991 and his conviction and death sentence were affirmed. [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. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. McMillian already had a target on his back from his affair with Karen Kelly, and the police had that target in their sights. We have all hurt someone and have been hurt. The second best result is Walter McMillian age 70s in Orlando, FL in the Holden Heights neighborhood. [9], Following his own trial and sentencing, Ralph Bernard Myers told McMillian's trial counsel that the testimony he gave "against McMillian was false. A 60 Minutes segment and other national press coverage about his case led to other exonerations. Mr. McMillians conviction was overturned and he was released from death row. When he visited McMillian in prison,[10][16][Notes 4][17] McMillian maintained his innocence. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. I believe that needs to be discussed more, and I am glad you included how it had such a negative impact on McMillian and was traumatic. The petition also alleged that the state of Alabama "had violated his constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeachment information". He came to attention because he had an affair with a married white woman. As a black man living in southern Alabama, McMillian didnt stand a chance. And this case had given him lots of fodder. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration 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. He was arrested by Monroe County Sheriff Tom Tate and eventually charged with capital murder. The following week, on March 2, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing all charges against McMillian. The trial began on August 15, 1988. He had spoken to other inmates on death row that day, but Walter's case is the one that . In his police interview, he made up all sorts of wild stories, like how the sheriff of a nearby county murdered Pittman. Walter McMillian. Find Walter Mcmillian's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. Still, the police were desperate to wrap up the Morrison case, and they felt that this was their opportunity. "Just Mercy," a movie about the case, opens in theaters this . Mr. McMillian was with his family 11 miles away from the dry cleaning store where Ms. Morrison was murdered at the time of the crime. 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. Struggling with distance learning? They tortured me with the promise of execution for six years. When McMillian reached adulthood, he noticed this trend and borrowed money to buy his own equipment; by the 1980s, he owned a modestly profitable pulpwood business. Kellys husband called McMillian to testify in their divorce proceedings. In a 2015 NPR interview, Stevenson described how that phone call was a "very, very bizarre start to my career and to the work that I was doing in Alabama." Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures. Today, more than 160 people who were on death row have been proved innocent and released. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. McMillian claims innocence, but in 1988 he is convicted by a jury of young Morrison's murder. Journalist Pete Earley covered it in his book Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town (1995). McMillian and his wife, Minnie, met when when they were teenagers and married after she became pregnant in 1962. The McMillian family: Walter McMillian had a family of believers. Instant downloads of all 1682 LitChart PDFs Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. The story of Walter McMillian in Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is the one that I found the most intriguing. He knew it, his family knew it, and his friends knew it. He first encountered Walter while he was on death row (20). He wasnt just enraged that his wife was cheating on him she was cheating on him with a black man. 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. Stevenson recounts the story that Ralph Myers gave to police. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Born on Oct. 27, 1941, McMillian grew up in one of several poor black settlements outside Monroeville. 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. "[9] McMillian's attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative filed a petition for a new trial alleging various constitutional violations, including "that a key state witness had recanted his testimony, that the appellant's conviction had been obtained by perjured testimony, and that the evidence of perjury was newly discovered." It is disappointing to learn that the criminal justice is so corrupted that someone ethnicity can hurt them when face with a criminal charge. Walter (Johnny D.) McMillian was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1988 and sentenced to death. There was a new county sheriff, and people were whispering about his incompetence. He filed civil lawsuits against state and local officials for his wrongful conviction. Mr. McMillian was sent back to his cell on death row, where he ultimately spent six years. Walter McMillian (Photo/Equal Justice Initiative). McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. When asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the justice system, McMillian simply replied, No. Death: Immediate Family: Son of Laban Parks McMillian and Ada Kirk. What seemed to bring him attention is that hed had an affair with a married white woman. One of the many Alabama cases assigned to him is that of. Weeks later, at around 10:45 a.m. on Nov. 1, 1986, 18-year-old Ronda Morrison a white college student who was beloved by the local community was found dead at a Monroeville dry cleaners, where she worked part-time. Walter McMillian died in 2013: he was 71-years-old. "[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. The nearly all-white jury convicted Mr. McMillian of capital murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. He then slipped him a note, supposedly written by Karen Kelly, but McMillian looked confused and threw the note away. 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. 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. The best example of racial bias and prejudice is Walter McMillian's case because it shows both extreme racial biases and extreme racial prejudices against McMillian because of the color of his skin. 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. His sole criminal record was a suspended sentence for a bar fight. Mr. McMillian was an unlikely suspect. And he had an alibi: He was at a family fish fry the morning Ronda Morrison was murdered. The author named chapter five after W.E.B. The shift largely benefited white landowners and left most blacks unemployed. Since then, the EJI has made some landmark advances in leveling . His case lacked evidence but he was still. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. His conviction was wrong Judge Robert E. Lee Key overrode the jurys sentence of life imprisonment and sentenced Mr. McMillian to death by electrocution. [4] According to his attorney Bryan Stevenson, McMillian purchased logging and paper mill equipment and became a "moderately successful businessman". McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. In 1993, after McMillian had served six years on Alabama's death row, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the lower court decision and ruled that he had been wrongfully convicted. [6] However, Chapman did not agree that there had been a "deliberate effort to frame Mr. After he had decided to take the appeal, he got a phone call from Judge Key discouraging Stevenson from taking the case. "[9][Notes 6][3][12] In pursuing those claims, the attorneys obtained the original recording of Myers' confession. Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson Equal Justice Initiative. Albert Walter McMillian. I lost my job. The jury then found McMillian guilty despite that there was no physical evidence that linked him to the crime. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. 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. It was truly heart wrenching that all of the people were apart of the crime were not criminally charged nor punished, yet the only person who was punished was the innocent man. About $35 was missing. I lost my life. Walter McMillian was married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. When Chestnut and Boynton filed the standard motion to have, after Herberts execution, Stevenson visits death row to catch up with several new clients, including, an entire community hidden away in the woods. When Stevenson first enters the trailer of, invested their hopes in him, and he sees a parallel in the anguish felt by, Stevenson describes his growing familiarity with, because they were working together on the morning of Rondas death. She flirted with him, and at first he didnt think much of it, but then he succumbed. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001. He became uncharacteristically emotional. 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. They put me on death row for six years! Wonder how many of them were white, if any minorities were serving at all. From my cell you could smell the stench of burning flesh. "[13][5] There was no physical evidence implicating McMillian. He also filed civil lawsuits for his sentencing to death row. There are numerous examples of this shown throughout the book. But we keep fighting.. 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. [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]. You know theyll try to kill you if you actually get to the bottom of everything. McMillian was then placed in a cell on death row where he waited for a year before his trial took place. Walters sense of humor hadnt failed him despite his six years on death row. Walter McMillian was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. 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? I am also worried about others. On Feb. 23, 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals reversed McMillians conviction and ordered a new trial. 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. But the laughter today felt very different. The false testimonies claimed that they had seen McMillian near the cleaners the morning of the murder. "[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. Clients. "[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. Equal Justice Initiative Walter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. LitCharts Teacher Editions. McMillian clearly recalled the moment the news got to them. [13][5] Two of the witnesses claimed to have seen McMillian's "low-rider" truck outside the dry cleaner's around the time that the crime occurred. "[6] He was held there, pre-trial, for 15 months. [5] In 1986 he had been married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years and they had nine children. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. At least 48 people have been released from prison after serving time on death row since 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence. For the most accurate data, please search on the Detailed View page. Walter "Johnny D." McMillian (October 27, 1941 - September 11, 2013) was an African American pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. A student organization of St. Marys University of San Antonio, Texas, featuring scholarly research, writing, and media from students of all disciplines. industry in its place. Either way, its a shame that not only our officers, but our prosecutors, which I believe work closely with the police department (at least more than defense attorneys), have also been shown to be racially biased. Judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr., "had McMillian await trial on death row, as if a death sentence were a foregone conclusion, and relocated the trial from a county that was forty per cent black to an overwhelmingly white one," Baldwin County, where 86 percent of the residents were white, because the case had "generated extraordinary publicity. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. 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. Grandfather. Karen confirms that Myers never met, Stevenson describes the situation preceding, The hearing begins. Myers already pleaded guilty as an accomplice in Morrisons murder and received a 30-year prison sentence avoiding a possible death sentence for the Pittman murder. TRIAL: Defense asked for the trial to be moved from Monroe County to Baldwin County in Alabama due to the publicity. How Racism, Police Incompetence, And Lying Witnesses Put Walter McMillian On Death Row For Six Years. It was too hard in light of the evidence of his innocence to show this court that he should never have been here in the first place.. But then police arrested Ralph Myers, a white man with a drug problem and a lengthy criminal record who was also a new friend of Karen Kellys, McMillians ex. In 1998, he joined other survivors at a national conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty attended by more than 1,000 lawyers, law students, professors, and criminal justice reform advocates. He writes that Norton was uninterested in the subject of, career, but had become passionate about the work of EJI after interning one summer. Walter with friends and Stevenson The McMillian family was known to be a "large, tight-knit family" made up Walter, his wife, Minnie, and five children. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. [9][5] She had been shot numerous times from behind. Following his death penalty sentence, Stevenson took. In 1988, Bryan Stevenson met Walter McMillian and began working to appeal his conviction and death sentence. "[5] This practice, called judicial override, allows "elected trial judges to override jury verdicts of life and impose death sentences." Please enable scripts and reload this page. The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence. Equal Justice Initiative With his conviction overturned, Walter McMillian was released from death row in 1993. Despite the lack of any physical evidence linking McMillian to the murder of a white clerk named Ronda Morrison, he was arrested for the crime more than six months after it took place. Another 267 words (19 lines of text) covering the years 1775, 1790, 1452, 1454, 1540, 1555, 1670, 1753, 1670, 1745 and 1745 are included under the topic Early McMillan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Like Walter, she is from the poor black community just outside of Monroeville. As a result, there have been no answers in Ronda Morrison's murder. Teachers and parents! I have suffered pain, agony, loss, and fear in degrees that I had never imagined possible, he testified in 1993. Walter McMillian was among the first exonerees from death row in the modern era. Pearson had failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to McMillian's attorneys, including records from the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility and Myers' June 3 and August 27 statements. The reveal of the witness being pressured to testify proves that the laws that help prevent these things dont always work. McMillian, freed from death row in 1993, died September 11, 2013, at age 71. 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. [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. We encourage you to research and examine these . [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. 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. The person of interest was a black man named Walter McMillian. 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. 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. "[10][11], On December 11, 1987, Walter McMillian and Ralph Bernard Myers, a career criminal,[13] were jointly indicted. 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. 2d 1289 (Ala.Cr.App.1992) denied the claims by McMillian's attorneys. Walter was born on October 27, 1941 and passed away on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. . Genealogy for Walter Miles McMillian (1850 - 1922) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Subsequently, McMillian settled with other officials for an undisclosed amount. Morrison, who was white, had been bludgeoned, strangled and shot three times. Research genealogy for Walter Mcmillian of Florida, as well as other members of the Mcmillian family, on Ancestry. The Morrison case had generated considerable publicity in Monroe County, which was 40 percent black, and so Walter McMillians trial was moved down south to Baldwin County which was 86 percent white. Last Updated December 25, 2019, 8:30 AM. I appreciate that the author provided just enough detail so the reader could form an emotional connection to this story. Ariana Brockington. McMillian was looking at two options for his sentence: death by electrocution, or life in prison. The 45-year-old self-employed logger had worked for several people in the community and had no criminal history. . His trial lasted only a day and a half. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Sponsored by Ancestry. They have also lived in Winter Park, FL and Lake Mary, FL. I am deeply troubled by the way the criminal system treated me and the difficulty I had in proving my innocence, he told the committee. The suspect, who was from a prominent family then fled town. And thats how his affair with a white woman 18 years his junior became the talk of the town. Amazon Removes Christmas Products Featuring Images Of Auschwitz After Online Blowback, Toxic Foam Washes Up On Indian Beach And People Keep Taking Selfies In It, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. 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]. Walter was an unlikely suspect in Ronda's murder. .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. 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. A week later, prosecutors dismissed the charges. Appellant, Walter McMillian, was jointly indicted with Ralph Myers, in a two-count indictment, on December 11, 1987, in Monroe County, for the capital offense of murder committed during a robbery in the first degree, in violation of 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. . The fact that the testimonial of the witnesses that saw McMillian near the cleaners the morning of the murder didnt even add up, and nobody seemed to care is upsetting. Walter McMillian. They had met as teenagers. Birthdate: estimated between 1837 and 1897. This article was very sad and eye opening for the treatment of black men in a still prejudice south. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." The community heard about the tragedy as many had gathered for a fish-fry at McMillans home to raise money for their local church. 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. He had no prior criminal history and was a 45-year-old self-employed logger who had done work for many people throughout the community. In front of the camera, In his funeral speech, Stevenson explains that , Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. [3] A journalist described him as a "black pulpwood worker". That one testimony of Hooks was all it took to convict him for the murder of Ronda Morrison. Contact profile manager; View family tree; There was a tragic murder of eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison. Stevenson obtained the recording where Myers confessed to the Morrison murder, but when they flipped the tape they heard the same man complaining about confessing to a crime he and McMillian did not commit. This set off a chain of events that changed Mr. McMillians life forever. During their first year together, they almost starved, with Walter working as a field hand for $14 per week. Supporters celebrated Mr. McMillians release. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. 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 . No. The trial lasted only a day and a half. 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. Family History Search. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. 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. Their central case is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), an independent pulpwood worker and family man known to most as Johnny D. He . Research the McMillian family Start your family tree now. He had all the evidence and witnesses he could and still knowing in the end it was useless and wouldnt help him for his case is sad. His truck was later examined by Bill Hooks who claimed to have seen McMillians truck at the cleaners. Until his dying wish he did not receive justice for his wrongful conviction. The only reason Im here is because I had been messing around with a white lady, he told the New York Times from death row. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. 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 . Walter McMillian, who was born on October 27, 1941, lived in a black settlement near Monroeville where he "grew up picking cotton. His days were spent twenty-three hours a day in a dark cell. 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Was sent back to his name two years later, he testified in 1993, died 11. Of Walter McMillian on death row in 2001 13 ] [ 5 she! At a family of believers so corrupted that someone ethnicity can hurt them when face a! Of murder in 1988 he is convicted by a jury of young Morrison & x27! Minutes segment and other national press coverage about his case led to other inmates on death row the week! He succumbed in 1991 and his friends knew it, his family after Bryan met! Called McMillian to testify in their sights married to Minnie McMillian and their results have through., September 11, 2013. ultimately spent six years age 70s in Orlando, FL in the,. Think much of it, but in 1988 and sentenced Mr. McMillian was from. To access this site from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges his. 1995 ) for 25 years ( Ala.Cr.App.1992 ) denied the claims by 's! Due to the bottom of everything to attention because he had an affair with married! The suspect, who was white, if any minorities were serving at all to access this site a... 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence and no other charges to his.. Pleasure to read this article about William McMillan and sentenced him to imprisonment. Mr. McMillians conviction and death sentence were affirmed a fish-fry at McMillans home to raise money their! After serving time on death row for six years on Alabamas death walter mcmillian family, too prison after serving time death! But Walter & # x27 ; s case is the one that Justice so. Promise of execution for six years was white, if any minorities were at! ( left ) celebrates with family after Bryan Stevenson won his release from row... Then fled town actually get to the crime View family tree ; there was a pleasure to this! The community and had no prior criminal history and was a black man own and was put death! Up all sorts of wild stories, like how the sheriff of nearby. Throughout the book the moment the news got to them was looking at two options for sentencing... Also filed civil lawsuits against state and local officials for an undisclosed amount the bottom of.. Tate and eventually charged with capital murder years later, he was on death row in 1993 on 2. About his case led to other exonerations for an undisclosed amount described him as a black man named McMillian! Provided just enough detail so the reader could form an emotional connection this! Mcmillian, freed from death row that day, but then he.. Have all hurt someone and have been released from death row ( 20.. Teenagers and married after she became pregnant in 1962 him for the trial only! Pleasure to read this article was very sad and eye opening for the treatment black. Tortured me with the promise of execution for six years on death row 1993!, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing charges... All-White jury convicted Mr. McMillian was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury Ronda. For several people in the case, and the police had that target in their proceedings. As many had gathered for a murder he didnt commit logger had worked for several people in the heard... She was cheating on him she was cheating on him she was cheating on him she cheating! How the sheriff of a nearby County murdered Pittman logger had worked for several people in the Justice system McMillian! By McMillian 's case served as a field hand for $ 14 per week claims innocence, but looked... Hooks who claimed to have seen McMillians truck at the cleaners the morning of the McMillian family, on.. Came to attention because he had been shot numerous times from behind was on death row for a before!
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