Friday morning, Michael Williams walked out of prison with $10 in his pocket, an innocent man after 24 years of incarceration.
Williams was arrested in 1981 on rape charges when he was 16 years old. At age 40 he has been released from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola through the work of the Innocence Project — a nonprofit organization that uses DNA evidence to exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. Williams is the 159th prisoner the program has helped exonerate.
Barry Scheck, a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York and founder of the Innocence Project, worked with Williams’ case during the appeal process. Scheck, Williams and state and local officials spoke about Williams’ case at a press conference held at the LSU Law Center on Friday.
Williams was convicted in 1981 for raping a woman in his hometown of Chatham, 30 miles southwest of Monroe. The victim identified Williams as the man who raped her, saying she recognized his voice. Her identification was used as evidence in his conviction despite what Scheck called a lack of and inconsistency in physical evidence.
Williams said he decided to contact Scheck and the Innocence Project after he saw Scheck on television working on the O.J. Simpson trial. He said he waited almost a year for a directory with Scheck’s address in it to arrive at the Angola library. He wrote Scheck a letter explaining his case and asking for help.
Scheck said the rape kit — used to obtain physical evidence from the rape victim — had been destroyed. There was no DNA left from the rape kit to compare with Williams’.
But the Jackson Parish District Attorney’s Office was able to obtain some physical evidence from the case.
Walter May, district attorney of Jackson Parish, said the physical evidence had been preserved by Ann Walsworth, the court reporter. Walsworth had meticulously kept the underwear and pajamas from the victim so well-preserved for 23 years that the district attorney’s office was able to abstract DNA to test.
May said the clothes were thoroughly tested, “multiple tests, multiple garments and multiple times. There is no reasonable argument that a conviction could have been obtained if this evidence had been available at the time.”
While Williams’ name has been cleared, he said his life has been affected forever.
Williams said prison was “a living hell.” No one in his family has visited him in prison since 1989, and Williams said they lost hope. He spoke to his brother Roger this morning.
“I talked to him [Friday],” he said. “I hadn’t seen him in over 24 years.”
Barry Gerharz is the director of Inside Out, a program that helps exonerated prisoners adjust to the outside world.
“While other kids were going to prom, Michael went to Angola, and he was innocent,” Gerharz said. “There is nothing we can do to make up for that loss of time.”
Gerharz said most exonerated prisoners have to relearn the skills it takes to function in society, from holding a job to leaving a voice mail.
Williams said he received a check for $10 when he left Angola and no other aide or assistance. The Innocence Project and Inside Out are trying to help Williams re-enter society.
Scheck begged Baton Rouge residents, where Williams will live, to help Williams by giving him a job or money.
Scheck said he hopes Williams’ case is an inspiration for students and state officials.
“Students can get together and get behind him,” Scheck said. “That’s how students used to be, getting together behind an ideal.”
Gerharz said a “major problem” in Louisiana is that the state does not compensate wrongly incarcerated people.
State Representative Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport, said the state should pass legislation compensating those who are wrongly imprisoned.
19 states have such legislation.
Glover said he intends to propose legislation that would give exonerated prisoners $25,000 for each year they spent in prison. He said $25,000 is less than any state gives. Some states pay as much as $50,000 per year.
Williams said he is not afraid of entering the “free” world — even after not working or earning money for the past 24 years.
“It’s not going to be hard,” he said. “I’ll just take it one day at a time.”
Williams said he will live in Baton Rouge and will not return to Chatham. He said he is afraid residents and law enforcement officers will react negatively because of remaining animosity towards him.
He said he wants to pursue interior decorating. He learned some sewing and decorating while in prison.
As for the victim of the 1981 rape, Williams said he does not know why the women misidentified him.
“God has a plan for people like that,” he said.
Williams’ attorney Vanessa Potkins said the crime had been brutal, and that could be a reason for the tragic misidentification.
Calvin Johnson, chief justice of the Orleans Parish Criminal Court, said Williams’ exoneration shows the judicial system works — “from Michael Williams’ perspective, it took a hell of a long time.”
But Johnson said it does not work for everyone.
“There are more people in jail in similar situations who don’t have DNA evidence to exonerate them, but are just as innocent,” he said.