walter mcmillian family

They had met as teenagers. login . To him and his family, the money he got from picking cotton was worth a lot more than an education. In his police interview, he made up all sorts of wild stories, like how the sheriff of a nearby county murdered Pittman. During their first year together, they almost starved, with Walter working as a field hand for $14 per week. It was the laughter of liberation. 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? "[6], Eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk, was murdered at Jackson Cleaners on November 1, 1986, in Monroeville, Alabama. A 60 Minutes segment and other national press coverage about his case led to other exonerations. According to Myers, reinstated in 1975, the majority of Alabama death row inmates have been black, although when, that the practice is occurring. On April 1, 1993, Mr. McMillian spoke to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about the urgent need to end the death penalty. Stevenson finishes by calling on, of the other witness testimonies. The . McMillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Equal Justice InitiativeWalter McMillian spent six years on Alabamas death row for a murder he didnt commit. . Karen confirms that Myers never met, Stevenson describes the situation preceding, The hearing begins. Alabama Releases Man Held on Death Row for Six Years, Walter McMillian's Statement to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Wrongfully Convicted Man Recalls Death Row, 122 Commerce Street Montgomery, AL 36104 . . We welcome new information from any source about exonerations already on our list and about cases not in the Registry that might be exonerations. The only evidence connecting McMillian to the killing was testimony by Myers, in line with his recorded statement, and two other witnesses who claimed to have seen McMillians "low-rider" truck outside the building at the time that the crime allegedly occurred. The real-life Walter McMillian (left) and lawyer Bryan Stevenson. 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. 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. There was a new county sheriff, and people were whispering about his incompetence. They tortured me with the promise of execution for six years. On the night Walter McMillian, a black woodcutter in rural Alabama, was . Stevenson was in his 20s and eager to take on the case, even though the unfortunately named judge discouraged him from doing so. Find Walter Mcmillian's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. He then slipped him a note, supposedly written by Karen Kelly, but McMillian looked confused and threw the note away. It was a pleasure to read this article about William McMillan. [2] Stevenson featured this early case of his career in a TED talk and in his memoir Just Mercy (2014). American wrongly convicted of murder (19412013), According to the 1993 appeal, Judge R.E.L. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. 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. 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 . The crime took place at the Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville. [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]. Walter McMillian was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. With no leads for six months, the police focused their attention on Walter McMilllian. 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. A student organization of St. Marys University of San Antonio, Texas, featuring scholarly research, writing, and media from students of all disciplines. [7][14], McMillian's "appellate lawyers discovered that prosecutors had withheld evidence and that the state's star witnesses had lied. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. Birthplace: GA, United States. "Michael has. 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. 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. Bryan Stevenson, McMillian's defense attorney, raised awareness on the CBS News program 60 Minutes. Not to mention, the way the author starts the article is genius. His conviction was wrong As a result, there have been no answers in Ronda Morrison's murder. The man was Russell Charley. When a mostly-white jury convicted Walter McMillian in 1988 for the murder of a white woman in Monroeville, Alabama and recommended life in prison, a local judge overruled them and imposed the death penalty instead. But McMillian always proclaimed his innocence. 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. There was a tragic murder of eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison. The false testimonies claimed that they had seen McMillian near the cleaners the morning of the murder. 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. I am at least happy to find out that Mr. McMillians made it out of deaths hand due to his lawyer, however this is one of many cases and not all of them end in a happy way. List of wrongful convictions in the United States, "Death of justice in Alabama: Brian Baldwin was condemned to the electric chair by a racist travesty", "Double Jeopardy: In Alabama, a judge can override a jury that spares a murderer from the death penalty", "Alabama Releases Man Held On Death Row for Six Years", Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, "An Alabama Sheriff, a Mystery Check and a Blogger Who Cried Foul", "Alabama frees black man on death row for 6 years - Walter McMillan", "One Lawyer's Fight For Young Blacks And 'Just Mercy', Jamie Foxx in Talks to Join Michael B. Jordan in Legal Drama 'Just Mercy', Equal Justice Initiative - Walter McMillian, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_McMillian&oldid=1134436044, Overturned convictions in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 17:56. "[10][11], On December 11, 1987, Walter McMillian and Ralph Bernard Myers, a career criminal,[13] were jointly indicted. 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. 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. Not at all.. "[6], McMillian was known in the small community for having an affair with a white woman, Karen Kelly. Known to his friends and family as Johnny D, Mr. McMillian spent 15 harrowing and tortuous months on Alabamas death row before trial. I appreciate that the author provided just enough detail so the reader could form an emotional connection to this story. Testimony of the trial lasted a day and a half. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Mr. McMillians experience on death row was traumatic. They had an affair, and when Kellys husband found out, things took a turn. Today, more than 160 people who were on death row have been proved innocent and released. It tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who gets help from Bryan to appeal his murder conviction. 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. 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.. Explore genealogy for Walter McMillian born 1941 Monroe County, Alabama, United States died 2013 including ancestors + more in the free family tree community. [7][Notes 7], McMillian later developed dementia, believed to have been brought on by the trauma of imprisonment. 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. He "did not have a history of violence. Walters case complicated the debate in very graphic ways. [9], Further investigation revealed that McMillian's truck, supposedly seen by witnesses at the scene of the crime, had not been converted to a "low-rider" until six months after the crime took place. Sponsored by Ancestry. On March 2, 1993, prosecutors dismissed charges against McMillian and he was released. Soon, he went from being a man who had an interracial affair to someone capable of murder. McMillian, was charged with first degree murder, the murder of a very well known white girl in the community. I feel like they done put me on death row, too. Despite insisting he was at a church fish dry with dozens of witnesses, including a police officer, he was seen as a suspect. Mr. McMillian was an unlikely suspect. But when the word got out about their affair, he grew worried. [6] McMillian held two jobs and "no criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge stemming [from] a barroom fight". Stevenson's uncle died in prison . 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 the case Walter McMillian v. State proceedings it was recorded that Myers identified Larry Ikner, and Thomas Tate, as the law enforcement officers. Walter had 3 siblings: Isabelle Page (born Mcmillan) and 2 other siblings. (including. 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. I ought to take you off and hang you like we done that nigger in Mobile. Judge Robert E. Lee Key overrode the jurys sentence of life imprisonment and sentenced Mr. McMillian to death by electrocution. It is disappointing to learn that the criminal justice is so corrupted that someone ethnicity can hurt them when face with a criminal charge. I believe there are other people under sentence of death who like me are not guilty.. 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. Four former death row inmates have been released from prison just this year after their innocence became apparent: Kirk Bloodsworth, Federico Macias, Walter McMillian, and Gregory Wilhoit. Born on Oct. 27, 1941, McMillian grew up in one of several poor black settlements outside Monroeville. Walter is related to Jane Marie Price and Jaline Renae McMillan as well as 3 additional people. This story was very sad to read, and unfortunately a clear reality in todays times with our criminal justice system in the United States. We encourage you to research and examine these . Tell 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. The trial began on August 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. McMillian later developed dementia and died in 2013, but his name lives on at the center of the criminal justice reform movement. I think this article not only spreads awareness on systematic racism and wrongful convictions, but it also starts a conversation on the inhumane conditions of prisons. 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 . This set off a chain of events that changed Mr. McMillians life forever. The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law. "[18], From 1990 to 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down four appeals. And this case had given him lots of fodder. For the most accurate data, please search on the Detailed View page. Innocence conference at Northwestern Law School, Chicago, 1998. 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. Resistance to acknowledging Mr. McMillians innocence was intense. [7][9] Myers pleaded guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term.[7]. On March 3, 1993, the County District Attorney finally dismissed the charges. 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. The controversial case received national attention beginning in the fall of 1992. McMillian presented six alibi witnesses who testified that they had been with him at a family fish fry the entire day. 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. Stevenson recounts the story Myers gave during. They had 2 children: Isabella Mae McMillan and one other child. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Seven months passed and every one of the polices leads went nowhere. All he could do was sit there and listen as three witnesses for the prosecution lied in their testimonies. $23.95. 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. In 1988, Walter McMillian, a Black man, was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for . His case lacked evidence but he was still. Aside from having a misdemeanor charge from a barroom fight, he had a clean record and no other charges to his name. He also filed civil lawsuits for his sentencing to death row. [3] A journalist described him as a "black pulpwood worker". This story is just one of the many injustices colored people must experience. He died on September 11, 2013. How famous was Albert Walter McMillian? The trial began on August 15, 1988. A very public divorce between this woman and her husband pulled Mr. McMillian into the limelight and he soon went from someone having an interracial affair to someone thought to be capable of murder. Financial TimesWalter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. HBOWalter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. "[9][Notes 6][3][12] In pursuing those claims, the attorneys obtained the original recording of Myers' confession. Research the McMillian family Start your family tree now. Husband of Libbie Wood. "[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. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town By Pete Earley Bantam. His trial start on Aug. 15, 1988 and lasted only a day and a half. The trauma Mr. McMillian experienced led to early-onset dementia. But as much as his family fought against the system, the system had a way of taking hold. 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. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES No. When asked whether his change of fortune restored his faith in the justice system, McMillian simply replied, No. Sentimentality about Lees story grew even as the harder truths of the book took no roots. 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. Or we can deny our brokenness, foreswear compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity. They convicted McMillian of first-degree murder. McMillian had a business of his own and was an upstanding member of his community. 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. [7], In the fall of 1992, McMillian's case received national attention in the CBS News program 60 Minutes. But the laughter today felt very different. This article was very sad and eye opening for the treatment of black men in a still prejudice south. Again, great work! Walter McMillian lived an ordinary life alongside his wife Minnie McMillian and their three children. 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. But the overwhelming evidence of innocence ultimately forced the State to agree to drop the charges. People were more concerned with convicting an innocent man of a murder he did not commit rather than finding the victims murderer. 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. 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. 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. App.1991). It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. Teachers and parents! I don't give a damn what your people say either. He wasnt just enraged that his wife was cheating on him she was cheating on him with a black man. It was too easy for the state to convict someone for that crime and then have him sentenced to death. Born to a poor black family outside of Monroeville, Alabama, Walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. 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. [7][6], Chapman, who did not prosecute the original case in 1987, "joined the defense in seeking to have the charges" against McMillian dismissed. (334) 269-1803 Walter was born on October 27, 1941 and passed away on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. . 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. Ariana Brockington. 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. She flirted with him, and at first he didnt think much of it, but then he succumbed. 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 Miles McMillian's Geni Profile. LitCharts Teacher Editions. 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. 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). Police could not solve the crime. That one testimony of Hooks was all it took to convict him for the murder of Ronda Morrison. Walter McMillian (left) and Bryan Stevenson after McMillians conviction was overturned in 1993. 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. The visits from his family were the only thing getting him by in his time there. He claimed that McMillian's exoneration "proved the system worked. "[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. Family History Search. Walter McMillian died in 2013: he was 71-years-old. After six months, the police had a possible person of interest. Walter McMillian (left) meets with his attorney, Bryan Stevenson. 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. And thats how his affair with a white woman 18 years his junior became the talk of the town. Years later when the case settled, the compensation was much less than had been hoped. She supports and cares for her five children during Walter's incarceration. 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. When he visited McMillian in prison,[10][16][Notes 4][17] McMillian maintained his 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 has won all but one of the five cases he's argued at the Court. 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. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Myers was picked up for a different murder, that of a poor white woman named Vickie Pittman. Advertisement. During his interrogation, police said that they had witnesses who would testify that he had committed the Morrison murder along with Walter McMillian, a 46-year old African-American man who was notorious in the community because he had a white girlfriend. Mr. McMillian at his familys home on the day of his release after six years on death row. I'm going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty. "Just Mercy," a movie about the case, opens in theaters this . 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. Plus, McMillian didnt fit the profile of a murderer: He had no prior felony convictions, just one misdemeanor for getting dragged into a bar fight years earlier. Those six years on death row traumatized McMillian in many unthinkable ways. Like Walter, she is from the poor black community just outside of Monroeville. [3] He died on September 11, 2013. McMillian had explained to Sheriff Tate shortly after his arrest that he was at the fish fry on the morning of November 1. His truck was later examined by Bill Hooks who claimed to have seen McMillians truck at the cleaners. They stopped him with guns pointing at his face, and they shoved him up against his truck. The reveal of the witness being pressured to testify proves that the laws that help prevent these things dont always work. They threatened me for six years. 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. The jury recommended a life in prison, but judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr. overrode their recommendation and imposed the death penalty. By the 1950s, however, cotton became less profitable, and the state of Alabama helped many white farmers transition to growing and chopping timber. us about an exoneration that we may have missed, Correct an error or add information about an exoneration His trial lasted only a day and a half. Myers had pled guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term. Just Mercy is a 2019 American biographical legal drama film co-written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson, Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, and Brie Larson.It explores the work of young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson who represents poor people on death row in the South. Just one grandparent can lead you to many discoveries. McMillian, who had "no prior felony convictions",[12] was arrested by newly elected Sheriff Tom Tate, who was under pressure to find a suspect. Margaret M (McMillan) Williams 12 Jul 1891 Ontario, Canada - 24 Jan 1932 managed by Dave Stern Susannah (McMillan) McRae 24 May 1810 Robeson, North Carolina, United States - 30 Aug 1886 managed by Rod Medders Jane (McMillan) Henderson abt 1809 Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom - abt 1859 managed by Lesley Robertson He suffered mentally and physically to the point where he developed early on-set dementia. [5] In 1986 he had been married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years and they had nine children. The jury recommended a life sentence, but on September 19, 1988, the judge overrode the jurys recommendation and imposed the death penalty. This is the true story of Walter McMillian, the wrongfully convicted man behind the film Just Mercy. 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. Wonder how many of them were white, if any minorities were serving at all. McMillian, freed from death row in 1993, died September 11, 2013, at age 71. The fact that this man was innocent, and everyone knew, he was still guilty. 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. He writes that Norton was uninterested in the subject of, career, but had become passionate about the work of EJI after interning one summer. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. We are all broken by something. Starting with, ordinary life lets the reader know that this could happen to anyone of color. [7], Upon discovery of this evidence, District Attorney Thomas Chapman, who had represented the state in McMillian's previous appeals, told Stevenson, "I want to do everything I can so that your client will not have to spend a single day more than he already has on death row. Walter McMillians post-conviction ordeal is featured in the film. Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson Equal Justice Initiative. When Walter McMillian was a 12-year-old black boy in Monroe County, Alabama where Harper Lee set To Kill a Mockingbird a bullet-riddled black man was found hanging from a tree in nearby Vredenburgh.