Posted May 23, 2008 to | Section Home | Print

Revamping the Criminal Justice System: Innocense Project Looks for Answers

By Gordon Jackson

Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner

DALLAS (NNPA) - The recent release of James Lee Woodard, the 17th man to be exonerated in Dallas County, made abundantly clear the fact that the criminal justice system is in need of a major overhaul. But those changes must begin in the hearts and minds first, before justice can become a reality in the legal system in America, and especially in Dallas.

"The American public has got to buy into those issues, it's got to be leadership that comes from the group up and the top down," said Morris Dees, co-founder and Chief Counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Montgomery, Alabama.

Dees, assembled with a "Dream Team" of criminal justice reform, gave their inner thoughts about what needs to be done right, to an audience that included at least six victims who suffered severe wrongs. He was joined by District Attorney Craig Watkins, District Criminal Judge John Creuzot and Jeff Blackburn, founder and director of the Innocence Project of Texas at "Freedom and Justice in America: A Live Conversation Onstage," a fundraising forum for IPOT, held May 1 at the Angelika Theater.

Listening intently within the two front rows, Charles Chatman, James Giles, Thomas McGowan, Billy James Smith, James Waller and James Lee Woodard sat, having served a total of 116 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, thanks to IPOT using DNA evidence to prove their innocence.

"Here I am right here. I'm taking it all in but it feels good," said McGowan.

He was just two weeks removed from 23 years of bondage, cleared in a Dallas County court of sexual abuse and burglary charges. Dallas County has had more exonerees than any county in the country. Texas leads all states with 33. McGowan amazingly said he's not bitter.

"I said to myself that God forgives," he said. "To me, it's like getting reborn, getting a second chance at life. I don't have time to be bitter, I'm trying to leave that behind."

The long string of clearings has caused Dallas County to be eyed as a model for justice reform, also partly because of Watkins' open policy to review all past felony cases and Judge Creuzot's successful drug rehabilitation record.

"We're trying to start a new civil rights movement," said Watkins, the first Black district attorney in the history of Texas. With most recorded false convictions taking place in the 1970s and '80s, in the heart of longtime district attorney Henry Wade's administration, Watkins said: "The climate then was always being tougher on crime, not smart on crime."

Moderator and IPOT board member Joyce King, also author of Hate Crime, The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas, said, "Dallas has changed, is changing and will continue to change.''

Dees said the justice system had always acted like a sporting event.

"Somebody is going to win, somebody is going to lose," Dees said. I don't' know if the American people really want justice. Some juries are ready to make a decision even before they hear the evidence.''

Says Creuzot, "We're too revenge-oriented...Revenge is a very powerful emotion. So is anger and it can get you into a place that you don't need to be in."

Blackburn gained fame for winning his case on the 1999 Tulia, Texas drug sting, where 46 men, 40 of them Black, were falsely arrested and jailed. Still, he said, change is slow for other jurisdictions.

"All DNA does is it opens a window to these deep problems in our system," Blackburn said. "Only now, a few prosecutors are begrudgingly admitting that a few people might get falsely convicted. Nobody is willing to admit that."

Withholding evidence that can prove one's innocence has been a consistent major problem. Blackburn said, out of the basic components of a court trial - the eyewitness, police officer, attorney and judge - it's common to see serious defects in at least two of them.

"You may have a weak eyewitness, but then you have a dishonest prosecutor who doesn't want his defense lawyer to know that he has a weak eyewitness," Blackburn said. "You've got police not revealing what really happened with that identification. What we discover there is typically at least two glaring problems and there is almost always some really bad behavior by the police or the prosecutors."

Dees spoke of one sexual assault and murder case where a judge refused to clear his client because he did not want to embarrass the wife of the late district attorney who had the case. In another case, a detective held back evidence from a man on death row, who was saved by a key witness within hours of being executed. The witness just happened to read the story in the city's newspaper.

"That's the justice system working?" Dees said.

Woodard, the latest exoneree in Dallas County, was released on April 29 after serving 27 years for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. Chatman also spent 27 years in jail for aggravated rape.

Smith was serving 19 years of a life sentence for sexual assault before being released on December 2006. Both Giles and Waller served 10 years for aggravated rape and sexual assault charges, but had to register as sex offenders for another 14 years before getting their names cleared.

Almost all of the six cases involved the alleged sexual assault of a White woman. In five of the six cases, the real perpetrator has never been caught, an added point of frustration for Waller.

"Back then, the crime (rate) was down in Texas, but because you were taking innocent people off the street," Waller said. "They said the crime had been solved, but you were leaving the guilty people out on the streets. That was the worst thing. They've been free all that time to do more crime."

Dees said revamping the justice system starts at the juvenile level. "We've got to stop this schoolhouse to jailhouse pipeline," he stated. He also pointed to the church. "The one voice that should be the strongest is the religious community. Many of them are out to lunch and don't get it. We need to be very mindful of the least among us and seek justice."

Watkins insisted on completely changing what it really means to be a district attorney or prosecutor.

"We need to not redefine what a D.A. is, but present a proper definition of what it needs to be today," Watkins said. "Mainstream media has distorted the definition of the D.A. They're in the business of selling newspapers. We're in the business of seeking justice."

Watkins' idea of a Conviction Integrity Unit was applauded. Getting better-paid lawyers for the defendants was recommended, paying them as close as possible to the prosecutors.

"Then it would be a different story," Dees said.

"We need to stop being afraid to look at a case and say that we were wrong," Creuzot said. "It seems like they're more concerned about preserving a legacy than seeking justice."

Dees also called to abolish the death penalty.