Excerpted from Staff Report by the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights Committee on the Judiciary One Hundred Third Congress, First Session Issued October 21, 1993

Walter (Johnny D) McMillian (Alabama, Conviction: 1988) Conviction was overturned by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and was freed after three witnesses recanted their testimony and prosecutors agreed case had been mishandled.

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The Pressure to Prosecute:Walter McMillian

"I was wrenched from my family, from my children, from my grandchildren, from my friends, from my work that I loved, and was placed in an isolation cell, the size of a shoe box, with no sunlight, no companionship, and no work for nearly six years. Every minute of every day, I knew I was innocent . . . ."

Walter McMillian, Written testimony at Subcommittee Hearing, July 23 1993.

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In 1986, in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, an 18-year-old white woman was shot to death in the dry cleaners around 10 AM. Although the town was shocked by the murder, no one was arrested for eight months. Johnny D. (Walter) McMillian was a black man who lived in the next town. He had been dating a white woman and his son had married a white woman, none of which made Johnny D. popular in Monroeville. [11]

On the day of the murder, Johnny D. was at a fish fry with his friends and relatives. Many of these people gave testimony at trial that Johnny D. could not have committed the murder of Ronda Morrison because he was with them all day. Nevertheless, he was arrested, tried and convicted of the murder. Indeed, Johnny D. was placed on death row upon his arrest, well before his trial. No physical evidence linked him to the crime but three people testifying at his trial connected him with the murder. All three witnesses received favors from the state for their incriminating testimony. [12] All three later recanted their testimony, including the only "eyewitness," who stated that he was pressured by the prosecutors to implicate Johnny D. in the crime.

The jury in the trial recommended a life sentence for Johnny D. but the judge overruled this recommendation and sentenced him to death. His case went through four rounds of appeal, all of which were denied. New attorneys, not paid by the State of Alabama, voluntarily took over the case and eventually found that the prosecutors had illegally withheld evidence which would have pointed to McMillian's innocence. A story about the case appeared on CBS-TV's program, 60 Minutes, on Nov. 22, 1992. Finally, the State agreed to investigate its earlier handling of the case and then admitted that a grave mistake had been made. [13] Mr. McMillian was freed into the welcoming arms of his family and friends on March 3, 1993.