This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McMillan research. 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. . Supporters celebrated Mr. McMillians release. Things would be fine, he thought, as long as everything was kept secret. His truck was later examined by Bill Hooks who claimed to have seen McMillians truck at the cleaners. 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. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. McMillian claims innocence, but in 1988 he is convicted by a jury of young Morrison's murder. Walter is related to Jane Marie Price and Jaline Renae McMillan as well as 3 additional people. You know theyll try to kill you if you actually get to the bottom of everything. [2] Stevenson featured this early case of his career in a TED talk and in his memoir Just Mercy (2014). Walter McMillian. McMillian clearly recalled the moment the news got to them. The case had generated an unusual amount of media coverage. . 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. Walter Lester McMillian, 72, of Fancy Gap, died May 26, 2002, in Beverly Health Care-Blue Ridge. "[3] Monroe County was described by The Guardian as "a remote, dirt-poor region of pine trees and bean farms". His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. We invite you to learn more about the clients featured in the book below. But the jury 11 white members and one black member took the prosecutions word. 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. There was a tragic murder of eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison. They separate after Walter's release, but she remains involved in his life and in his care during his long-term illness. At least 48 people have been released from prison after serving time on death row since 1930 with significant evidence of their innocence. 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. He came to attention because he had an affair with a married white woman. Walter McMillian (1941 - 2013) . Walter McMillian was married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years. The trauma Mr. McMillian experienced led to early-onset dementia. Walter (Johnny D.) McMillian was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1988 and sentenced to death. he sees the report about EJI for the first time. 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. He died on September 11, 2013. . The petition also alleged that the state of Alabama "had violated his constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeachment information". Not at all.. 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. He met Karen Kelly, who was 25 and unhappily married, at the Waffle House where he ate breakfast. Meanwhile, six witnesses testified in McMillians defense, saying he was hosting a fish fry at his house during the crime. 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. His trial start on Aug. 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. But the laughter today felt very different. "[9] D.A. Its really infuriating that the people involved received no backlash. Wonder how many of them were white, if any minorities were serving at all. Again, great work! [6] McMillian held two jobs and "no criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge stemming [from] a barroom fight". 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. Walter was an unlikely suspect in Ronda's murder. 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. 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. Advertisement. "[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. "[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. I'm going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty. McMillian recalls his time there as a terrible experience. Seven months passed and every one of the polices leads went nowhere. Testimony of the trial lasted a day and a half. The man was Russell Charley. HBOWalter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. American wrongly convicted of murder (19412013), According to the 1993 appeal, Judge R.E.L. information about the Registry, Perjury or False Accusation, Official Misconduct. Just one grandparent can lead you to many discoveries. Mr. McMillian was arrested, and in an extraordinary move, was immediately . Home; . McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. 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. 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". To him and his family, the money he got from picking cotton was worth a lot more than an education. 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. They had three children and lived in a dilapidated house in Repton, about 10 miles south of Monroeville. Her . The shift largely benefited white landowners and left most blacks unemployed. 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. She supports and cares for her five children during Walter's incarceration. Thirty-six of the nearly two hundred convicts on death row are there because of override."[5]. I cant imagine how infuriating it must be to experience something like this. 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, 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. Eventually, Myers gave a taped confession in which he said that he drove McMillian to the scene of the crime and that McMillian went into the building alone. Financial TimesWalter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. "[5] It emerged that Sheriff Tate and investigators with the Monroe County D.A. I lost my reputation. As a black man living in southern Alabama, McMillian didnt stand a chance. This story is just one of the many injustices colored people must experience. 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. All NRE reports represent a moment in time. His time spent in prison was torture not only to McMillian but to his family and friends as well. After listening to it, they flipped the tape over and discovered a recorded conversation in which Myers complained bitterly that he was being forced to implicate McMillian, whom he did not know, for a crime neither of them had any role in. 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. From my cell you could smell the stench of burning flesh. Please enable scripts and reload this page. A student organization of St. Marys University of San Antonio, Texas, featuring scholarly research, writing, and media from students of all disciplines. . According to the Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Alabama, "No capital sentencing procedure in the United States has come under more criticism as unreliable, unpredictable, and arbitrary" than the judge override. 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. McMillian was shocked and absolutely saddened to hear about it. 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 McMillian family: Walter McMillian had a family of believers. Research the McMillian family Start your family tree now. [6] McMillian's conviction and death sentence were affirmed on appeal in 1991 in McMillian v. State, 594 So. He was subjected to graphic questions about the nature of his and Kellys relationship, and he left the courtroom feeling uneasy. 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. 2d 1253 (Ala.Cr. When he asked for an explanation, they loudly and angrily said that he was being charged with sodomy for assaulting a man. Then, read the harrowing last words of 23 executed criminals. There are numerous examples of this shown throughout the book. Based on police coercion and perjury McMillians conviction was wrongfully obtained, based police. 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