After six months, the police had a possible person of interest. on our list, Other [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. Walter McMillian, who was born on October 27, 1941, lived in a black settlement near Monroeville where he "grew up picking cotton. With few ordinary comforts in his life, the attention of women was something Walter did not easily resist.. 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. . He filed civil lawsuits against state and local officials for his wrongful conviction. 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. Not at all.. Suddenly, State Troopers, city cars, sheriffs, and deputies surrounded his car. They threatened me for six years. "[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. 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. How Racism, Police Incompetence, And Lying Witnesses Put Walter McMillian On Death Row For Six Years. They knew their statements against a white mans perjured testimony didnt stand a chance.4, McMillians trial lasted two days. 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 . Maggie was born on October 8 1888, in Sunnyside, Belledune, Restigouche, New Brunswick, Canada. I believe there are other people under sentence of death who like me are not guilty.. 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. 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. McMillian clearly recalled the moment the news got to them. The petition also alleged that the state of Alabama "had violated his constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeachment information". Stevenson tries to hasten, rushes to the courthouse to pick up the 35-page ruling in which the judge nullifies, Before a new trial can be scheduled, Stevenson files a motion to have all of, The morning of the hearing, Stevenson tells, A camera crew came to the U.S. to interview EJI and people theyd represented, including. His conviction was wrong "[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. 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. He saw Walter as the perfect way to do that, and this is because of his race and how . 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. Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. After he had decided to take the appeal, he got a phone call from Judge Key discouraging Stevenson from taking the case. The real-life Walter McMillian (left) and lawyer Bryan Stevenson. After Mr. McMillians release in 1993, he worked hard to educate people about the death penalty, sharing his experiences with students, community groups, and elected officials across the country. 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. [19] Subsequently, McMillian settled out of court with other officials for an undisclosed amount. They had an affair, and when Kellys husband found out, things took a turn. 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. After a week of interrogation by the police, Mr. Myers accused Mr. McMillian, a pulpwood worker, as Ms. Morrison's killer. "[9] D.A. 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. 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. Research genealogy for Walter Mcmillian of Florida, 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. "[3], After returning to his family and hometown of Monroeville, McMillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials, including "the three men in charge of investigating the Morrison murder Tom Tate, the Sheriff of Monroe County; Larry Ikner, an investigator with the District Attorney's office in Monroe County; and Simon Benson, an investigator with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation",[19] for his wrongful prosecution and conviction. Jamie Foxx portrays McMillian and Michael B. Jordan stars as Stevenson. In the 1988 trial, under a controversial Alabama doctrine called "judicial override", the judge imposed the death penalty, although the jury had voted for a sentence of life imprisonment. McMillian and his wife, Minnie, met when when they were teenagers and married after she became pregnant in 1962. Mr. McMillians conviction was overturned and he was released from death row. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. This was adapted as an eponymous feature film, released in 2019. Mr. McMillian at his familys home on the day of his release after six years on death row. 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. Were going to keep all you niggers from running around with these white girls. Early History of the McMillan family. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001. I ought to take you off and hang you like we done that nigger in Mobile. I cant imagine how infuriating it must be to experience something like this. 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. While McMillian did receive an undisclosed amount of compensation, it was less than he had hoped for. October 10, 1995. The people of Monroeville, Alabama was shaken up with fear and anger by Morrison's murder. Walter McMillian passed away on September 11, 2013.7. Police could not solve the crime. 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. 2. Police were skeptical that Myers and McMillian were really accomplices, and so they conducted an experiment. The trial began on August 15, 1988. Like Walter, she is from the poor black community just outside of Monroeville. "[5] It emerged that Sheriff Tate and investigators with the Monroe County D.A. he sees the report about EJI for the first time. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian with his family after his release from prison. [3] He died on September 11, 2013. The visits from his family were the only thing getting him by in his time there. 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. In November 1988, 28-year-old attorney Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Government graduate, who was the director of the newly formed Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center in Montgomery, took on the task of appealing the case. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. 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. 2d 1289 (Ala.Cr.App.1992) denied the claims by McMillian's attorneys. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. Ariana Brockington. McMillian recalls his time there as a terrible experience. But the laughter today felt very different. Grandfather. 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. [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. But we keep fighting.. Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures. Mr. McMillian was an unlikely suspect. Walter was born on October 27, 1941 and passed away on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. . In 1992, Ed Bradley reported that the wrong man might have been sitting on Alabama's death row. "Just Mercy," a movie about the case, opens in theaters this . Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. And he had an alibi: He was at a family fish fry the morning Ronda Morrison was murdered. He became uncharacteristically emotional. Those six years on death row traumatized McMillian in many unthinkable ways. 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. When asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the justice system, McMillian simply replied, No. 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. 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. The controversial case received national attention beginning in the fall of 1992. 53 records for Walter Mcmillian. 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. 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. [4] According to his attorney Bryan Stevenson, McMillian purchased logging and paper mill equipment and became a "moderately successful businessman". The smell of someone you know burning to death is the most painful and nauseating experience on this earth. The crime took place at the Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville. 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. He met Karen Kelly, who was 25 and unhappily married, at the Waffle House where he ate breakfast. Report an error or add more information about this case. About $35 was missing. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration The suspect, who was from a prominent family then fled town. Find Walter Mcmillian's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. Against state and local officials for an undisclosed amount died on September 11, 2013 experience... By withholding exculpatory and impeachment information '' i believe there are other under! & # x27 ; s death row which was passed in 2001 knew their statements against a white perjured. 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