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notInmate, Jefferson City Correctional Center, Missouri guilty From the Executive Director What this project means to me...

“There are no innocent people in prison,” said my professor of Criminal Justice during my freshman year at San Antonio College. He went on to explain how there are few tenets held in higher regard than the American people’s mandate to keep the innocent out of prison. “Our criminal justice system works so diligently to keep innocent men and women out of prison, that we accept the number of guilty that go free.” MISSION I took him at his word. And over the next couple of decades I heard that sentiment reiterated time and again. I felt comforted to know this. The mission of the Midwestern (MIP) is to Not only has that principal been proven patently false over the last 10 years, it is the very principal provide pro-bono investigative that has landed many innocents in prison. and legal assistance to prisoners with persuasive actual innocence While we certainly don’t have an “average” case in innocence work, we do have a fairly common story we find repeated time and again; a high profile murder often in a small town, a great deal of pressure on the claims, provable through scientific police and prosecutor to solve the case with swift and sure justice and the inevitable “rounding up” of the evidence or otherwise. usual suspects.

We accomplish this by: It’s not long before a completely innocent 19 year-old who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or who perhaps looks similar to the description of the assailant, finds himself in a small room with two police n reviewing requests from prisoners, officers trained in advanced interrogation techniques. They’ve found their man. n selecting cases with substantial innocence claims, and After an 18-hour barrage of disconnected lies, coercion, promises of leniency then threats of bodily harm, n working with lawyers, investigators, a brand new thought creeps into this man’s mind. “I have to do whatever they ask to get out students, law schools, volunteers Take a moment of this room.” You see, like me and like you, he also knows that innocent people don’t go to prison. and other justice programs to He knows all he has to do is get out of that room so he can tell his story to the right people. So he takes the paper and the pen from the officers and writes down just what they want to hear. “I killed her.” He signs obtain the release of innocent the paper knowing he will be found innocent soon enough, but completely unknowing that his signature, prisoners through judicial on the bottom of his confession, was likely his undoing. proceedings or executive to stop and think... clemency. You see it’s nearly impossible for a jury to accept that any reasonable person would confess to a crime they did not commit. And just as impossible for a defense attorney to convince a jury that is exactly what happened.

It is for these men and women and for the hundreds of others sitting on their bunks with their heads in their “What if it happened to me?” hands waiting for us to investigate and litigate their case; waiting for us to prove their innocence that we endeavor to persevere.

As we continue our mission to free those wrongly convicted, we ask you to take a moment and think: The Midwestern Innocence “What if it happened to me?” Project is a 501(c) 3 non- profit corporation that fills the Midwest’s need for a broad-based Jay Swearingen Innocence Project. The MIP Executive Director reviews and accepts cases from Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, , Nebraska and Iowa. innocenceprojectmidwest.org Dennis Fritz, Ron Williamson and “I cannot think of two Cheryl Pilate It took more than 11 years for Kansas City’s Dennis Fritz to be proven innocent of a murder he didn’t better examples of why it is commit and released from an Oklahoma prison. It took three more years and the help of Kansas City attorney and MIP Board member Cheryl Pilate to obtain the compensation which Fritz and fellow exoneree Ron Williamson deserved for their important to allow inmates wrongful convictions and years of incarceration.

Fritz and Williamson were arrested, tried and con- “It made me feel like that if I had to go through this, Dennis Fritz victed in the sexual assault and murder of 21-year- there was some purpose,” said Fritz. In 2002, the (left) and Ron with provable and justifiable old Debra Sue Carter, who was found strangled in City of Ada and the State of Oklahoma settled the Williamson upon their December 1982 in Ada, Oklahoma. In 1988, Fritz lawsuits brought by Fritz and Williamson for a and Williamson were convicted in separate trials release from significant amount, which cannot be disclosed an Oklahoma based partially on microscopic hair comparisons, because of a confidentiality agreement. prison in 1999 done as part of a scientific testing method which claims of innocence to have has since been largely discredited. Fritz and Fritz has remained active with the Innocence Williamson were also convicted based on testimony Movement in Kansas City, helping the Midwestern of witness Glen Gore, an informant who was later Innocence Project with fund-raising projects and proved through DNA testing to be the real killer. keeping in touch with other local exonerees who are Gore has since been convicted of the rape and readjusting to society. their day in court.” murder of Carter. Williamson has not fared as well, however. Fritz received a sentence of life in prison, — Cheryl Pilate, Attorney while Williamson was given the death penalty. Upon his release in 1999, he continued to experi- At one point, Williamson came within five days ence mental health problems. Once an aspiring of execution before a court intervened. baseball player, Williamson deteriorated dramati- cally in prison and was moved to an Oklahoma innocence project statistics as of late 2004* If not for DNA evidence saved from the scene and psychiatric hospital. Sadly, in 2004, Williamson later tested, Fritz might still be incarcerated for the passed away. Average years spent in prison by 146 dna exonerees rape and murder. Both he and Williamson were in the u.s.: 12. total years spent in prison by all: 1,652. exonerated and released from an Oklahoma prison “I cannot think of two better examples of why it is in 1999 based on the results of DNA testing. important to allow inmates with provable, justifiable * As supplied by the Innocence Project in New York claims of innocence to have their day in court,” said Fritz was incarcerated from 1988 to 1999, during Pilate. “Science has progressed to a point where a large part of his daughter’s childhood — time he if physical evidence still exists in cases that are can never get back. “That makes his story even five, ten, 15 years old, the key to proving actual more tragic,” said Pilate, who helped Fritz seek innocence is likely at the justice system’s fingertips. financial compensation for his wrongful incarcera- We need to make the appeals process easier for tion. “Dennis not only had to live through the horror those inmates who can legitimately claim innocence of prison, but he also missed out on watching his through previously unavailable scientific evidence or daughter grow up.” For his part, Fritz is philosophi- testimony from witnesses who may not have been cal about his time in prison and the subsequent brought to the attention of the court during trial.” legal fight to gain his freedom and compensation. The publicity generated by the case helped focus 2 attention on the wrongful incarceration issue. 3 Johnny Lee Wilson and “We have locked up David Everson Johnny Lee Wilson was never a troublemaker in school. He had no history of violence. But accord- ing to mental disability professionals in Missouri, Johnny Lee Wilson functions at the lowest one an innocent, percentile of the U.S. population. Wilson’s mental retardation was the principal reason he spent nine years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. retarded man who is In April 1986, the body of Pauline Martz was found inside her burned home in Aurora, Missouri. She had been beaten, bound and gagged; her home was ransacked. Town resident Gary Wall told evidence to convict him — at his trial in 1987. He Wilson hugs his authorities that Wilson had told him he knew about was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in mother after not guilty.” the crime. Five days later, local police arrested being pardoned prison without parole. However, Wilson continued Wilson and began to interrogate him. by Missouri Gov. to maintain his innocence. In 1988, convicted mur- Mel Carnahan derer Brownfield told authorities at a Kansas prison and released Aurora police only focused on Wilson despite cred- — Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, that he had murdered Martz. Despite this fact and from prison on ible information from sources pointing to other sus- others, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld Wilson’s Sept. 29th, 1995 in granting a pardon to Johnny Lee Wilson, 1995 pects. Local school officials said Wall was a “decep- sentence, ruling that Wilson knew what he was Photo: tive liar.” An eyewitness saw someone other than The Kansas City Star doing when he entered his plea. Wilson enter the Martz home. Leads were provided by Joplin, Missouri, authorities that a career criminal According to documents sent to Governor named Chris Brownfield was known to have tied up Carnahan’s office in 1993 by Wilson’s attorney, and robbed elderly women in the past. David Everson, people with mental retardation like Johnny Wilson “see and comprehend the world After waiving his right to have an attorney present, differently than people with average intelligence. his interrogation lasted for more than eight hours. They are often excessively trusting and easily Wilson vigorously denied that he had any con- manipulated. They also will try excessively hard nection to the crime at first, but with investigators to agree with or seek to please others in an effort repeatedly asking leading questions and threaten- according to a 2001 u.s. department of justice study, between to be accepted — a trait called ‘acquiescence.’” ing Wilson with harsh reprisals “if he didn’t tell the Wilson’s disability made him an easy target for 20% and 40% of eyewitnesses identified an innocent person as truth,” Wilson began to wither. investigators seeking to solve a murder. the culprit when traditional lineup methods were used. At first, authorities were able to get Wilson to say It was at this point that Wilson’s attorney and cur- that he and two other men were involved in the rent chairman of the Midwestern Innocence Project, crime; then, interrogators used leading questions David Everson, turned to the Missouri Governor’s to get Wilson to admit he acted alone. With a docu-  percentage of 146 u.s. DNA Exoneree cases Office. Documentation highlighting Wilson’s mental mented IQ of 76, Wilson was no match for authori- capacity, the leading and descriptive questioning of involving mistaken eyewitness testimony: ties, who received the confession they sought. authorities during Wilson’s interrogation and the fail- When the police tried to get details of the crime ure of local authorities to pursue other leads in the * from Wilson, he was only able to give information case were provided to Governor Carnahan’s Office more than 80% that they knew was inaccurate. in 1993. Two years later, on September 29, 1995, * As supplied by the Innocence Project in New York Governor Carnahan pardoned Johnny Lee Wilson. Wilson initially entered an Alford Plea — claiming

no guilt but acknowledging the state has enough Continued on page 12 > 4 5 Joe Amrine and Sean O’Brien The overall tragedy of this case only begins to

Joe Amrine lives and works in Kansas City. When The state relied solely on the testimony of Amrine’s left: Attorney you meet him, you first notice the smile which lights fellow inmates in making their case during the 1986 Sean O’Brien up his 48-year-old face. His life is now productive trial. Yet later, when the three inmates recanted their and Amrine highlight problems share a laugh and filled with purpose. initial testimony fingering Amrine for the murder, the after Amrine’s state argued that the recantations were not credible. release; But it wasn’t always that way. John Noble, the only prison guard present when Right: Amrine Barber was stabbed, stood by his testimony that celebrates with On July 28th, 2003 Joseph Amrine was released he saw the victim chasing Terry Russell, the inmate family members within our judicial in July, 2003 from the Cole County (MO.) Detention Center who was the first to accuse Amrine in the murder. after serving more than 16 years for a crime he No physical evidence backed up the inmates’ didn’t commit. Amrine, who was serving a 15-year stories. sentence for burglary and robbery, was accused of system. murdering fellow inmate Gary Barber in 1985 based The overall tragedy of this case only begins to on the testimony of three other inmates. In 1986, an highlight problems within our judicial system. The all-white jury (Amrine is black) voted to convict him use of jailhouse informants, overburdened public of murder after very little deliberation. Years later, defenders and the general assumption of guilt by each of the three inmates admitted their testimony investigators all played a role in Amrine’s case. was false, made because of either threats or offers Despite all of the harrowing odds against them, Since 1992, 159* inmates in the U.S. have been of leniency by authorities in their own cases. Amrine and his lawyer, Sean O’Brien, relentlessly professed his innocence until Amrine was exoner- exonerated of serious crimes through post- Inmate informants were only part of Amrine’s ated of the crime. A great victory, to be sure — but conviction review of cases utilizing DNA testing. problem, however. both Amrine and O’Brien will tell you there are many other inmates currently serving long sentences for According to both jurors and inmates who were crimes they did not commit. * As of August 2005 Wrongful convictions are often the result of: called as witnesses in the trial, Amrine’s publicly- appointed defense attorney failed to interview key O’Brien represented Amrine and made his actual witnesses and used confusing and crude charts in innocence arguments before the Missouri Supreme n mistaken eyewitness identification defending his client. In fact, one juror went so far Court in 2003. O’Brien, who serves as a Director on n defective or fraudulent science to say the attorney’s obvious lack of preparation the Midwestern Innocence Project’s Board, is also n police or prosecutorial misconduct completely destroyed the credibility of Joe Amrine’s the President and Executive Director of the Public n poor legal defense defense. Interest Litigation Clinic, in Kansas City, MO. He n false or coerced confessions has represented numerous clients on , in n racism Amrine also faced major obstacles from over- many instances on a pro-bono basis. zealous prosecutors. 6 7 Ted White, Jr. and Sean O’Brien “There is not one bit of evidence the state brought us to prove

The case of Ted White, Jr. is proof that the justice ment and justice systems sometimes operate. LEFT: Ted White, system functions — or is completely broken. Jr.; Right: white O’Brien represented White during his second and with family and friends after his guilt.” It just depends on who you talk to. third trials. By now it had been discovered that the the jury in detective who investigated the allegation was also a third trial White was a successful businessman living the involved in a romantic relationship with White’s wife acquitted him — Jill Miller, Juror American dream in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. (and mother of the alleged victim). A diary written Photos: by the alleged victim during the time of the sup- The Kansas City Star Then in 1998, White’s life started to unravel as he posed molestation is reviewed by the detective, but and his wife began divorce proceedings. At the returned without disclosing its existence to either same time, White was accused of, then charged White or his attorneys. Compounding matters, the with, molesting his daughter. Although he denied diary disappears. committing the crime, he’s convicted. Finally, the investigator is asked during a deposi- That’s when White flees to Costa Rica. He’s eventu- tion whether he has an interest in how the case ally caught, brutally beaten in a foreign prison, then turns out. The prosecuting attorney, aware of the extradited back to Missouri. investigator’s relationship with White’s wife, lets the investigator testify that he has no personal interest Because of his flight to another country, White ini- in the outcome of the case. The MIP supports reforms to ensure more tially loses his right to appeal the conviction — but then wins on appeal under a rarely-used exception Ultimately, Ted White, Jr. regained his freedom after citizens do not serve prison time for wrongful to the no-appeal rule. jurors voted 12–0 to find him innocent of all charges convictions: on February 7th, 2005. In March, 2005, White’s law- Thanks to the hard work of MIP Board members yers filed suit against the City of Lee’s Summit, the Sean O’Brien and Ellen Suni, White is granted police chief and investigator who worked the case, n  videotaping or audio taping all interrogations to create an objective record of an appeal because of the prosecution’s failure to as well as his ex-wife who in the interim married the proceedings disclose information. This leads to a second trial in investigator. That suit, which seeks up to $100 mil- n videotaping all viewing of lineups, photo spreads and other ID processes by witnesses which the jury fails to reach a unanimous not-guilty lion in compensation, is pending at the time of this n  creating blue ribbon disciplinary committees to deal exclusively with alleged verdict due to one holdout juror. A third trial results writing. misconduct by criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors in White’s acquittal, and allows him to walk free n  urging states to pass no-fault compensation statutes to provide decent relief to those after serving seven years in prison. “This case highlights what can happen when cru- who can prove they were wrongly convicted with clear and convincing evidence cial evidence is withheld from a defendant,” says n  supporting Innocence Projects across the country that will represent clients in DNA and While this story has an apparent happy ending, it’s O’Brien. “The ultimate tragedy here is that Ted non-DNA cases how the 42-year-old White ended up in prison — White had to suffer the agony of being imprisoned and stayed there through three trials — that raises for seven years for a crime that he didn’t commit 8 momentous questions about how our law enforce- — and miss out on seven years of his life.” 9 Ellen Reasonover and “Many exonerees Cheryl Pilate Sixteen years in prison was the “reward” Ellen Reasonover received for coming forward as a witness in a 1983 murder near St. Louis. It took another five years after Reasonover’s release for are simply released her to win compensation for her wrongful conviction of murder.

It also took nearly five years in attorney Cheryl back into society Pilate’s career to help free the woman Pilate steadfastly believed to be innocent from the first day she became involved in the case. Pilate is a LEFT: Reasonover member of the Midwestern Innocence Project’s relaxes after Board of Directors. her release from prison; Above: without so much as Reasonover and The murder of 19-year-old James Buckley occurred attorney Cheryl at a small gas station in Dellwood, Missouri. In the Pilate midst of doing laundry at a laundromat that eve- ning, Reasonover made a quick trip to the station an apology.” to get change. She saw three men at the station, but no one answered her repeated knocks at the cashier’s window. Reasonover later learned from — Cheryl Pilate, Attorney media reports that the station attendant had been murdered. She then contacted police to tell them corroborate the story. Police did not record the about the potential suspects she had seen. Despite conversation, and Reasonover denied confessing corroboration of her story by two other witnesses, to Jolliff. Despite enticements from police, Butler Reasonover became the focus of the murder later supported Reasonover’s story. Authorities investigation. decided to believe Jolliff and continued to focus on Reasonover as the prime suspect. She was Despite a complete lack of eyewitnesses and physi- released from jail and received a call from Jolliff, cal evidence, Reasonover and her ex-boyfriend, who was working with police. The conversation was innocence project statistics as of late 2004* Stanley White, were jailed and briefly placed in secretly recorded, but Reasonover maintained her adjacent cells. According to court testimony and cost of one dna test: $3,000 – $5,000 innocence. During the ensuing murder trial, Jolliff police records, authorities secretly taped conversa- falsely denied under oath that she was promised cost of one year in prison per inmate: $20,000 – $23,000 tions between the two, hoping to get both suspects a more lenient sentence in exchange for testifying to talk about the case. They did, but the conversa- * As supplied by the Innocence Project in New York against Reasonover, after her lawyer had received tions showed ignorance about the details of the a prosecutor’s assurance of such a deal. case, and genuine anger and bewilderment about their arrests. It was clear from the tape that neither  Later, neither police nor prosecutors men- Reasonover nor White had any involvement in tioned either of the secretly recorded tapes to the crime. Reasonover’s defense attorneys. The tapes remained hidden for years. Reasonover was then moved to another jail, and placed in a cell with two other female prisoners. A month after the murder, Reasonover was re- One of the inmates, Rose Jolliff, told authorities arrested on charges of stealing from a gas station Reasonover implicated herself in the crime, and the second inmate, Marquita Butler, was pressured to Continued on page 12 > 10 11 Reasonover contacted Centurion Ministries The Midwestern Innocence Project johnny lee wilson and in New Jersey, asking Jim McCloskey to David everson review her case. Centurion leaders agreed Provides Experience for Students Continued from page 5 the case had merit, and in 1994 they retained a Kansas City law firm, now called Wyrsch “You’re a free man,” Everson told Wilson the Hobbs & Mirakian. The firm’s principal, James SPECIAL day the pardon was announced. Wilson left Wyrsch, turned the case over to Pilate, who the Jefferson City, MO Correctional Center was later joined by Charles Rogers. After in Everson’s car with $7 and change in his digging into the case files, all three lawyers THANKS pocket, wearing new sneakers and a became convinced not only that Reasonover The Midwestern Innocence Project sweatshirt bought for him by his attorneys. was innocent, but that police and prosecutors would like to extend special thanks intentionally hid evidence of innocence from defense lawyers while relying solely on testi- to our sponsors and contributors, “In Johnny’s case, there are so many facets mony of jailhouse snitches. whose support helped to produce related to this injustice that it’s easy to see why this case received the national attention this publication: it did,” Everson said at the time. “Perhaps Eventually, the secret tapes and memos the greatest tragedy here is that this is not were found, proving the prosecutor in With an eye toward the future, the Midwestern Innocence Project is working with tomorrow’s lawyers and Members of Reasonover’s case had promised leniency journalists to reduce the number of wrongful convictions and represent innocent people who are already the Midwestern n Bank of America a unique case — there are other people to one of the snitches in return for testimony incarcerated. Innocence incarcerated for crimes they did not commit Project Student n King Hershey Attorneys at Law because they are unable — either mentally or against Reasonover. Pilate and her col- Organization financially — to fight for their rights.” leagues asserted in their pleadings that the The MIP uses students at the UMKC School of Law to assist with the processing and investigation of (MIPSO) meet to n Public Interest Litigation Clinic prosecutor knowingly allowed false testimony innocence claims. By using law students who are participating in the Wrongful Convictions class or serving discuss cases at at trial, hid powerful exculpatory evidence, as volunteers, the Project can leverage its resources and get maximum value from the dollars it receives. the University of n Saint Andrew Christian Church misled the jury in his closing argument and At the same time, these students learn a valuable lesson about the importance of pro bono representation Missouri–Kansas City School Ellen Reasonover and made misrepresentations to the court in a and about the flaws in our criminal justice system that lead to wrongful convictions. “We take an optimis- n Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP of Law Cheryl Pilate post-trial hearing. Eventually, United States tic approach to desperate situations. MIP and other innocence projects work to guarantee that our legal n UMKC School of Law Continued from page 11 District Court Judge Jean Hamilton called for system will not be blind to injustice,” says Ida Lee, a UMKC Law Student and Liaison to the MIP Board of a full evidentiary hearing. One by one, the Directors. “Working with the Project has really opened my eyes to the fact that wrongful convictions can n Village Presbyterian Church — a second case brought by the same local jailhouse informants, police investigators and happen to anyone,” added Alisha O’Hara, who serves as President of the MIP’s Student Organization. prosecutor. An undercover officer and a cell the prosecutor in Reasonover’s case were “The MIP has taught me just how valuable our freedom is.” n Welch Family Foundation mate later gave statements that Reasonover discredited. In August 1999, Judge Hamilton ruled in favor of Reasonover and ordered her Many of the students doing this work are likely to become prosecutors or criminal defenders, and they n Wyrsch Hobbs & Mirakian, P.C. never implicated herself in either crime. But a third woman — a convicted thief and heroin release — 16 years after her ordeal began. will do so armed with a better understanding of how to litigate criminal cases from both sides to avoid the addict — claimed she heard Reasonover tragedy of wrongful convictions. One of the “hands-on” education benefits includes MIP student clinics, confess. The woman, Mary Ellen Lyner, In 2004, with Pilate again at her side, which occur several times every semester. Students review cases under the supervision of local lawyers. later admitted on the witness stand that she Reasonover received a $7.5 million settle- “I have learned so much from working at the clinics,” says Stephanie Kice, a UMKC law student. “The received favorable treatment in her own ment to be paid by the insurance company for hands-on experience has been invaluable in helping me discipline my analysis and thought process.” cases for testifying against Reasonover Dellwood, Missouri. As part of the settlement, UMKC School of Law Dean Ellen Suni agrees. “The involvement of students not only assists those — but then lied about her history of testifying the town of Dellwood and its current police seeking exoneration, but serves to prevent wrongful convictions in the future,” she adds. in return for leniency. chief, who then was the lead investigator in the case, did not admit any wrongdoing. The MIP is also working with a University of Missouri Journalism School faculty member on the Columbia campus, where an Innocence Project is in its formative stages, to collaborate on cases when collaboration The MIP thanks DeMent O’Flaherty In July 1983, Reasonover was convicted seems wise. Steve Weinberg, a MU journalism professor, serves on the MIP board of directors. He and his and Collier Communications and of the gas station theft, based largely on “Ellen is one of the luckier exonerees, if you Sära Keehn for the design and Lyner’s false testimony. Reasonover received can believe it,” said Pilate. “She has received students conducted investigative services in tandem with MIP Legal Director Phil Gibson during the first half production of this publication. a seven-year sentence. Four months later, monetary compensation for the years taken of 2005 related to a possible actual innocence case in St. Louis. The MIP is also exploring ways to partner with Lyner and Jolliff serving as the state’s from her by the system. But many exonerees with other area law schools, including Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. and the University of Kansas witnesses, Reasonover was tried and con- are simply released back into society without in Lawrence, Kan. victed in the murder case. The jury vote was so much as an apology.” 11–1 for the death penalty. The lack of a unanimous vote spared Reasonover’s life.

Years passed, and an apparent open- 12 and-shut case came to life again when If you are interested in providing financial or other types of support to the MIP, please contact us:

The Midwestern Innocence Project 6320 Brookside Plaza, #1500 Kansas City, MO 64113 innocenceprojectmidwest.org (816) 221-2166 [email protected]