The community heard about the tragedy as many had gathered for a fish-fry at McMillans home to raise money for their local church. "[6], Eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk, was murdered at Jackson Cleaners on November 1, 1986, in Monroeville, Alabama. [6] McMillian's attorney then filed a motion to dismiss all charges. 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. 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. Walter Miles McMillian's Geni Profile. Resistance to acknowledging Mr. McMillians innocence was intense. He claimed that McMillian's exoneration "proved the system worked. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. A week later, prosecutors dismissed the charges. Walter Lester McMillian, 72, of Fancy Gap, died May 26, 2002, in Beverly Health Care-Blue Ridge. What effect does this have. [9][Notes 5], In 1992 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in McMillian v. State 594 So. . He was a family friend, and the rumor was that hed been lynched for dating a white woman. 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." The fact that this man was innocent, and everyone knew, he was still guilty. Walter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. 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. He is survived by four sons and daughters-in-law, Jimmy and Brenda McMillian, Roger and Carol McMillian all of Galax, Charles and Sandra McMillian of Hillsville, Michael McMillian of Fancy Gap; three brothers, Rush. Innocence conference at Northwestern Law School, Chicago, 1998. McMillian was looking at two options for his sentence: death by electrocution, or life in prison. The person of interest was a black man named Walter McMillian. Police were skeptical that Myers and McMillian were really accomplices, and so they conducted an experiment. Judge Key warns Stevenson not to take on the case of, death row inmates. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. [7][6], Chapman, who did not prosecute the original case in 1987, "joined the defense in seeking to have the charges" against McMillian dismissed. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001. Bryan Stevenson and EJI received death threats. McMillian already had a target on his back from his affair with Karen Kelly, and the police had that target in their sights. As Mr. Stevenson and the staff of EJI investigated the case, they discovered a ton of evidence that proved Mr. McMillian was innocent. Research the McMillian family Start your family tree now. When you are poor and under sentence of death you worry about a lot of things. Simplified. "[5] This practice, called judicial override, allows "elected trial judges to override jury verdicts of life and impose death sentences." [6] McMillian's conviction and death sentence were affirmed on appeal in 1991 in McMillian v. State, 594 So. [emailprotected], Mr. McMillians testimony specifically addressed the failure to provide adequate legal help to people in prison and on death row. 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. Chestnut and Bruce Boynton, later testified that the state withheld evidence that proved his innocence. 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. This article illuminates how unfair and biased the justice system is to the minorities but also people of color. She flirted with him, and at first he didnt think much of it, but then he succumbed. Myers heard popping sounds, and he found McMillian standing over the victim with a gun in his hand. "Just Mercy," a movie about the case, opens in theaters this . / Walter McMillian (left) celebrates with family after Bryan Stevenson won his release from death row in 1993. 's office and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) had "pressured [Myers] into lying about Mr. The racial bias against McMillian is shown in his interactions with the law . Equal Justice Initiative Walter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. It was clear that Myers and McMillian didnt know each other; Myers word was the sole evidence connecting McMillian to the crime. Stevenson's uncle died in prison . [7][9] Myers pleaded guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term.[7]. 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. . 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. 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. He was then taken to the local jail where the charge was quickly dismissed. This story is just one of the many injustices colored people must experience. One of the biggest worries is whether youll get the kind of legal assistance you need to save you from execution, he testified. Bryan Stevenson discusses the outrageous miscarriage of justice in the case of Walter McMillian. [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. They separate after Walter's release, but she remains involved in his life and in his care during his long-term illness. 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. I have plenty of friends who are sentenced 10 or 20 years in jail and they feel doomed as soon as the judge slams the gavel. Although there are still injustices for colored people in todays society, it Definitely has gotten better and Im glad that were working towards that. When asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the justice system, McMillian simply replied, No. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Last Updated December 25, 2019, 8:30 AM. Starting with, ordinary life lets the reader know that this could happen to anyone of color. The visits from his family were the only thing getting him by in his time there. This left McMillian even more clueless as they didnt provide him with an explanation for how or why he was being charged with such a crime. App.1991). Stevenson came across McMillians case and met with him and began working on appealing his case. Seven months passed and every one of the polices leads went nowhere. About $35 was missing. 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 in the African American community have always known that the criminal justice system is a threat, that it will take people who are innocent or wrongly convicted and it will treat people unfairly, Stevenson said in an interview with Essence magazine. Walter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. Decades later, McMillian found himself the object of one pretty white womans flirtation. The smell of someone you know burning to death is the most painful and nauseating experience on this earth. What seemed to bring him attention is that hed had an affair with a married white woman. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. McMillian had explained to Sheriff Tate shortly after his arrest that he was at the fish fry on the morning of November 1. The real-life Walter McMillian (left) and lawyer Bryan Stevenson. [6] McMillian held two jobs and "no criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge stemming [from] a barroom fight". I feel sick about the six years that [McMillian] has spent in prison and the part I played in keeping him there. Years later when the case settled, the compensation was much less than had been hoped. Support The National Registry of Exonerations , The Contribution of Forensic and Expert Evidence to DNA Exoneration Cases, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States, 2022, Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent, Witness Recantations: Preliminary Findings, May 2013, Exonerations in the United States: 1989 - 2012, Tell us about an Exoneration that we missed. Sponsored by Ancestry. This story is incredibly heartbreaking and sadly not very uncommon. . He "did not have a history of violence. 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. 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. 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. 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. Walter McMillian is in the back row. The website is updated daily, frequently with exonerations that occurred in the past. Wonder how many of them were white, if any minorities were serving at all. 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. Sheriff Tate was never removed from office; he retired in 2019. Part of the evidence revealed a tape where a witness confessed to having been pressured to frame McMillan. The police wouldnt buy it, and so Myers said he had information on the Morrison case. He had a large, tight-knit family and several children with his wife. The case outlines the basic premise of frustrated local law enforcement, the DA of Monroe County, needed to, for lack of a better term, save his ass. "[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. McMillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. "[10], On February 23, 1993, in his fifth appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, the judges ruled 50 to reverse McMillian's conviction and grant him a new trial. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Financial TimesWalter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. When Minnie became pregnant in 1962, they were married. Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures. Walter McMillian was among the first exonerees from death row in the modern era. Skip Ancestry main menu Main . "[3] Monroe County was described by The Guardian as "a remote, dirt-poor region of pine trees and bean farms". They had already received previous backlash from the public because his son was known for marrying a white woman. This was adapted as an eponymous feature film, released in 2019. 2d 1289 (Ala.Cr.App.1992) denied the claims by McMillian's attorneys. When she was five years old, her mother died of consumption, weakened from the grueling delivery of Mary's younger sister and heartbroken by the baby's untimely death. His loving friends and family spoke very highly of him and of everything he did for his community.1, On November 1, 1986 in Monroeville, Alabama, shocking news struck the town. Following his death penalty sentence, Stevenson took. 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. 2d 1253 (Ala.Cr. Yes. This story was very sad to read, and unfortunately a clear reality in todays times with our criminal justice system in the United States. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. [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. Contact profile manager; View family tree; With his conviction overturned, Walter McMillian was released from death row in 1993. harrowing last words of 23 executed criminals. On March 3, 1993, the County District Attorney finally dismissed the charges. Journalist Pete Earley covered it in his book Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town (1995). Walter McMillian. ", According to David Rose in his 1999 article in. His trial lasted only a day and a half. They knew their statements against a white mans perjured testimony didnt stand a chance.4, McMillians trial lasted two days. His conviction was wrong He had about half a dozen of his friends and family members testifying that they were with him at the time of the crime. In the case Walter McMillian v. State proceedings it was recorded that Myers identified Larry Ikner, and Thomas Tate, as the law enforcement officers. Just Mercy tells the story of EJI's clients, from Walter McMillian and Anthony Ray Hinton who were exonerated from Alabama's death row to Joe Sullivan and Ian Manuel who won release after being sentenced to die in prison for nonhomicide crimes in Florida when they were just 13 years old. 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. With no leads for six months, the police focused their attention on Walter McMilllian. 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. 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 . Another time journalism helped bring justice into worldview was in the Walter McMillian case. He also filed civil lawsuits for his sentencing to death row. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. Family History Search. By the 1950s, however, cotton became less profitable, and the state of Alabama helped many white farmers transition to growing and chopping timber. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!, This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Walter was born on October 27, 1941 and passed away on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. . Again, great work! 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. 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. How Racism, Police Incompetence, And Lying Witnesses Put Walter McMillian On Death Row For Six Years. A new investigation was ordered. Myers was picked up for a different murder, that of a poor white woman named Vickie Pittman. She is resilient, patient, intelligent and hospitable. For months, the police could not solve this case. The following week, on March 2, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing all charges against McMillian. And he had an alibi: He was at a family fish fry the morning Ronda Morrison was murdered. "[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. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000. 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. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Bryan Stevenson took on Mr. McMillians case in postconviction. 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. One of his friends said they were working on that same truck that morning; the transmission was out of it. [5] In 1986 he had been married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years and they had nine children. Walter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. (including. People were more concerned with convicting an innocent man of a murder he did not commit rather than finding the victims murderer. One of the many Alabama cases assigned to him is that of. Things would be fine, he thought, as long as everything was kept secret. The man was Russell Charley. Walter McMillian was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. In the last two years of his life, he couldnt enjoy the outdoors or get around much without help. Walter was an unlikely suspect in Ronda's murder. The jury recommended a life sentence, but on September 19, 1988, the judge overrode the jurys recommendation and imposed the death penalty. There was a tragic murder of eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison. The case had generated an unusual amount of media coverage. Or we can deny our brokenness, foreswear compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. 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. He filed civil lawsuits against state and local officials for his wrongful conviction. 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. Walter was implicated in the murder of Ronda Morrison, which led to a rather unfair trial against him. Grandfather. [15], Since then, the frequency of the judge override in Alabama has come under scrutiny: "Nearly seventy Alabama judges have single-handedly ordered an inmate's execution, and collectively they have done so more than a hundred times. Those six years on death row traumatized McMillian in many unthinkable ways. It was the laughter of liberation. It was too easy for the state to convict someone for that crime and then have him sentenced to death. WRONGFUL CONVICTION 2 In Monroeville, Alabama November 1, 1986, a white woman by the name of Ronda Morrison was murdered. Meanwhile, six witnesses testified in McMillians defense, saying he was hosting a fish fry at his house during the crime. on our list, Other Walter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. Walter McMillian passed away on September 11, 2013.7. 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? The way the content is organized, Walters legal case serves as the central storyline of the book. He has won all but one of the five cases he's argued at the Court. Walter had 3 siblings: Isabelle Page (born Mcmillan) and 2 other siblings. The trial began on August 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. Police, prosecutors, and judges are immune from judgments that require them to make payments to people victimized by abuse of authority. The second best result is Walter McMillian age 70s in Orlando, FL in the Holden Heights neighborhood. Walter McMillian (Photo/Equal Justice Initiative). I had never heard about this case before reading this article, and it is unfortunate to read about McMillian and his experience. Walter often sought better work to support his family. All NRE reports represent a moment in time. This article is informative and well written! With few ordinary comforts in his life, the attention of women was something Walter did not easily resist.. Supporters celebrated Mr. McMillians release. Little did he know that the murder of Ronda Morrison would impact his life in a major way later on.2, On June 7, 1987 at around 11:00 a.m, McMillian was peacefully driving down Route 84. McMillian presented six alibi witnesses who testified that they had been with him at a family fish fry the entire day. On April 1, 1993, Mr. McMillian spoke to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about the urgent need to end the death penalty. I believe there are other people under sentence of death who like me are not guilty.. I am also worried about others. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." 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. 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. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Southern Prisoners Defense Committee (SPDC), Voting Rights Protests of 1965 (Selma-to-Montgomery Marches). I'm going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty. They had met as teenagers. The people of Monroeville, Alabama was shaken up with fear and anger by Morrison's murder. Suddenly, State Troopers, city cars, sheriffs, and deputies surrounded his car. [2] Stevenson featured this early case of his career in a TED talk and in his memoir Just Mercy (2014). For the first time in six years, Walter McMillian was a free man. 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. [3] His time spent in prison was torture not only to McMillian but to his family and friends as well. He picked cotton with his family, went to the local colored school for a couple of years, and then went back to picking cotton at around age eight or nine. [9][5] She had been shot numerous times from behind. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Bryan Stevenson stands in 1993 with Walter McMillan, a man wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row for six years for the murder of an 18-year-old dry cleaning store clerk in Monroeville, Ala. Stevenson successfully argued that Stevenson was with family 11 miles away at the time of the crime, that witnesses had lied on the stand, and that the prosecution had illegally suppressed . He had spoken to other inmates on death row that day, but Walter's case is the one that . Instant downloads of all 1682 LitChart PDFs Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. . Sentimentality about Lees story grew even as the harder truths of the book took no roots. McMillians original attorneys in the trial, J.L. He was subjected to graphic questions about the nature of his and Kellys relationship, and he left the courtroom feeling uneasy. He saw Walter as the perfect way to do that, and this is because of his race and how . [9], Following his own trial and sentencing, Ralph Bernard Myers told McMillian's trial counsel that the testimony he gave "against McMillian was false. Appellant told him that "I had a lovely family to be destroyed if I . Walter McMillian was married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years. 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. It is a miracle that Mr. Stevenson reviewed Mr. McMillans case, without his review, an innocent man would been put to death due to racial discrimination. McMillian, was charged with first degree murder, the murder of a very well known white girl in the community. One of his early cases was that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who is put on deathrow in 1987 for the murder of an eighteen year-old White girl, regardless of the evidence proving his innocence. This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McMillan research. Morrison, who was white, had been bludgeoned, strangled and shot three times. Stevenson was in his 20s and eager to take on the case, even though the unfortunately named judge discouraged him from doing so. Research genealogy for Walter McMillian of Mississippi, USA, as well as other members of the McMillian family, on Ancestry. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. Today, more than 160 people who were on death row have been proved innocent and released. All he could do was sit there and listen as three witnesses for the prosecution lied in their testimonies. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. 53 records for Walter Mcmillian. Mr. McMillians conviction was overturned and he was released from death row. Throughout the case, Stevenson battles political and legal maneuverings, as well as overt and institutional racism, all in the name of fighting for . And this case had given him lots of fodder. 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. Our death penalty system treats you better if youre rich and guilty than if youre poor and innocent. information about the Registry, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct. We invite you to learn more about the clients featured in the book below. I lost my life. 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About the Registry, perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct so Myers said he had lovely! Mcmillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials for his wrongful conviction 2 Monroeville... Found himself the object of one pretty white womans flirtation was wrongfully,! Said they were working on that same truck that morning ; the transmission was out of it own and an! Tight-Knit family and friends as well as other members of the murder of Ronda... Affirmed on appeal in 1991 in McMillian v. state 594 so upstanding member of his Kellys. This story is incredibly heartbreaking and sadly not very uncommon local jail where charge. Polices leads went walter mcmillian family the nature of his and Kellys relationship, and it is unfortunate read! Prosecution lied in their sights, on March 3, 1993, the and... Whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the case, opens in theaters this cars,,... You to learn more about the six years later when the case his.
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