DNA Helps Free Inmate After 27 Years

60 Minutes: James Woodard Owes His Freedom To Project Started By Dallas County D.A.

(CBS)  There's been some bitter soul searching going on in Dallas County, as one man after another is being released from prison after being convicted, years ago, of crimes they did not commit. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, it happened again just last week with the release of a man who had been proclaiming his innocence, behind bars, for 27 years.

So far, 17 men have been cleared in Dallas - that's more than most states. All were put on trial by prosecutors who worked for the legendary District Attorney Henry Wade. Wade was Dallas' top prosecutor for more than 30 years. He never lost a case he handled personally. But it turns out the record of Wade's office was too good to be true. And now, a new Dallas district attorney is focusing on the Wade legacy - it's a search for innocent men waiting to be exonerated.

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James Woodard went away in 1981, convicted in the murder of his girlfriend who had been raped and strangled. He was prosecuted by the office of District Attorney Henry Wade. For nearly 30 years, he never gave up writing letters, and filing motions. But no one was willing to grant him a hearing-until now.

60 Minutes was there last year when Woodard gave the DNA sample that would determine his true guilt or innocence. Since 2001, there has been a series of men in Dallas County who have walked from prison into freedom.

The exonerated include Eugene Henton, James Waller, who did almost 11 years, Greg Wallis, who was in for nearly 19, and James Giles, who did 10 years; Billy Smith was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and served nearly 20 years for a crime he didn't commit.

James Waller rejected a plea bargain for a rape he didn't commit. "They offered me three years. I turned it down. And I said, 'We go to trial.' And I came out with 30 years," he tells Pelley.

Asked why he turned down the deal, Waller says, "I know one day that I was gonna have to die, and I didn't want to go before God saying I did something that I didn't do."

"Greg, what did you lose in all that time?" Pelley asks.

"Well, I didn't get to see my boy growing up. He was two and a half when I left," Wallis says.

Wallis says his son is now 22 years old.

"To me, an apology, it won't do, because an apology can't bring back the time that I spent. It can't bring back my loved ones my loved ones. I lost ten family members while I was incarcerated. I never got to go to the funeral of any one of them. There are a lot of things that I could say that I lost. But then there's a lot of things that I could say that I can't tell you what I lost, 'cause I don't know," Billy Smith says.

"What do you mean you don't know what you lost?" Pelley asks.

"It's just like a part of me that's just gone. You know? I'm 20 years behind time. I was 35 when I got arrested. I'm 55 now," Smith explains. "But when I was ready for release, I wasn't excited about getting out. I still don't understand that today."

Asked how he could not be excited about getting out after all that time, Smith says, "Well, that's a part of me that I lost."

Michelle Moore and Jeff Blackburn are lawyers for The Innocence Project of Texas, a nonprofit group investigating wrongful prosecutions.

"What was the history of the Dallas County DA's office from, say, the 1950's to the 1990's," Pelley asks.

"Prosecute at all costs," Moore says. "It doesn't matter what they have as far as evidence. But if they've got anything that could tie this person into the case, then they were going to pursue the case against that person, even if it meant that they overlooked other suspects in a crime."

"Dallas got a reputation as the hardest, roughest county in the state. This was the one county that you did not wanna get accused of a crime in, because in this county, if you got charged with a crime you were likely gonna go to prison," Blackburn adds.

It was the late Henry Wade, a Texas legend, who ran the district attorney's office from 1951 to 1987.

Wade prosecuted Jack Ruby in the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. He's the Wade in "Roe v. Wade," the abortion case. His deputies played hardball, but Moore says they didn't always play by the rules.

"And we have found, in some of those cases, that there was evidence that was not given over to the defense. So, the defense could not adequately prepare," she tells Pelley.

"You're saying that prosecutors had evidence that suggested innocence, and they didn't pass that on to the defense attorneys?" Pelley asks.

"That's correct," Moore says.

"But that's the law, isn't it?" Pelley asks.

"It is the law, but there's no penalty for prosecutors who don't give over evidence. You get a slap on the hand but you still get promoted because you got the conviction," Moore says.

"Prosecutors break the law, pay no penalty," Blackburn says. "Men get wrongfully convicted, and they can't get out because the system conspires to cover up their case. That's a crooked system."

[milcahq]

I think it was very admirable that this man was willing to suffer that long in jail to stand up for truth and justice. It is about time somebody did! This case should make people everywhere, especially in Texas, where this occurs all the time, take a long, long hard look at our Justice System and stand up and make the changes that would keep innocent people with their families and maintain their American- given right to freedom. It should start with changes in the DA's offices throughout Texas!!! Well-done IPOT and Craig Watkins!

[mtwtdallas]

What a shame that these 17 men have had to endure with the irresponsible acts by the prosecutors of the Dallas District Attorney''s office. It''s good to know that there are still a few good attorney''s that really believe in justice being served through the Innocence Project. Unfortunately, the cycle yet still continues when innocent people are found guilty for crimes that they did not do. www.angelfire.com/crazy4/texas/trial
Let''s not let history repeat itself under Distrct Attorney Craig Watkins watch by sending innocent people to prison. District Attorney Watkins, don''t be a disgrace to Dallas County like District Attorney(s) Wade and Hill have been. Make a difference and a change...a change for the better!!!!

[ymerch1956]

THE DA WADE SHOULD BE THROWN IN JAIL FOR LIFE BECAUSE HE TOOK SOMEONE''S LIFE. HE SOUNDS LIKE A RACIST. I''M WILLING TO BET THAT MOST OF THE MEN HE SENT TO PRISON WAS BLACK AMERICANS. HE BETTER HOPE THAT NONE OF HIS FAMILY MEMBERS EVER SUFFER AN INJUSTICE. HE IS A VERY COLD HEARTED PERSON TO SEND PEOPLE TO PRISON WHO CONTINUALLY CLAIM THEIR INNOCENT FOR YEARS AND THEN TO FIND OUT HE WAS. THE JUSTICE SYSTEM NEED AN OVERHAUL BECAUSE IT IS NOT UTILIZING EVERY ASPECT OF THE CASE TO BE COMPLETLY SURE BEFORE YOU TAKE AWAY SOMEONES FREEDOM. I GUESS IF ENOUGH WHITE PEOPLE WERE BEING WRONGLY ACCUSED IT BE CHANGES OVER NIGHT, BUT FOR BLACK AMERICANS WE DO NOT HAVE THAT LUXURY OF A FAIR TRIAL,WE ARE JUDGE BY THE COLOR OF SKIN AND THEY ARE SEEN AS HUMANS. THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN WRONGLY ACCUSED SHOULD BE GIVEN MILLIONS FOR THEIR FREEDOM THAT WAS TAKEN AWAY.

[alastair8-2009]

What a disgrace that this, the richest country in the world, doesn''t give him a bunch of cash as restitution.
We appear to have unlimited funds to promote war and terror abroad, but not enough to take care of our own.
This man deserves better!

[inmo-2009]

I got chills I as watched this.
Mr Woodard''s comment "A man has to stand for something." as to why he didn;t was he was sorry and admit his guilkt.
Mr Woodard - I hope you are reading these - you have suffered an injustice no one ever should. Through that you have stood your ground and been proven INNOCENT! Your strength and courage should be a shining example for all. You truly are a great man - overcoming this while staying storng to your own life. You are amazing!

[tanne11]

Texas is not the only state that has innocent peoples in jail. My cousin Rodney Macon has been in a Louisiana prison since the age of sixteen, the youngest ever sentence to life in prison for a rape he did not committ. He has been in jail for twenty nine years. He now sufferes from heart failure. His pray now is that the innocent project will take his case and he can died outside of jail and ouside of the state of Louisiana. Shame on the America justice system when D.A.s moves up the civil service ladder by the number of people they send to jail. Whether they are innocent does not matter. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME!

[nannadavis]

I thought this was a great story. I am glad for this man James Woodard. I am so sorry it took so lang for him to be found inocent.
I am telling this story in churvh on Mother''s Day.Henry Wade that convicted Woodard was also the lawyer that had Roe. Vs. Wade. law about abortion.I am the director of a crisis pregnancy center, and am daily trying to convince young men and women not to kill their babies in abortion. Alexis Hoff is the law student that pick James Woodards file and choose to work his case and found the DNA didn''t match. James was set free. Alexis Hoff is the law student that choose his case. The part that grabbed me is Alexis Hoff wasn''t even born yet when James was arested. Alexis was chosen by God to be the one to set James free. In Psalm 139:I saw you before you were born. Everyday of my life was recored in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. God chose Alexis to be the one, three decades later to set James free. WOW!!!That is one of the reasons she was born.... Amen Amen... You go girl.....

[joboost]

Well - good news - at least for one - and his family. And even better news: that a prosecutor admits that things can get wrong - even deliberately, just for vanity''s sake - andthat he is dtermined to avoid that in future.
The bad news: without the Innocence Project none of thos would happen. Think of it: If the ones at the top can coomit crimes others were hanged for in Nuremberg, what can you expect from those lower down the line - but still in the line of power?
Think of the thousands who "confess" every year, because they got "5 years to life" and would never get out unless they "confess". And also remember that 50% of all rape accusations are false! How many innocent men does that make in US prisons (out of nearly 1% of the US population who are in there)? But you have seen DA Nifong and the Duke accuser: She has not suffered one iota of penalty - Is that what Women''s Rights should mean? A bad state is bad enough. But women going that way too? Let''s turn it all around. G.W. AND N.O.W.!
J. Boost

[joboost]

Well - good news - at least for one - and his family. And even better news: that a prosecutor admits that things can get wrong - even deliberately, just for vanity''s sake - andthat he is dtermined to avoid that in future.
The bad news: without the Innocence Project none of thos would happen. Think of it: If the ones at the top can coomit crimes others were hanged for in Nuremberg, what can you expect from those lower down the line - but still in the line of power?
Think of the thousands who "confess" every year, because they got "5 years to life" and would never get out unless they "confess". And also remember that 50% of all rape accusations are false! How many innocent men does that make in US prisons (out of nearly 1% of the US population who are in there)? But you have seen DA Nifong and the Duke accuser: She has not suffered one iota of penalty - Is that what Women''s Rights should mean? A bad state is bad enough. United bad States are worse. But women going that way too? Let''s turn it all around. G.W.B. AND N.O.W.!
J. Boost

[promethe-2009]

smitty448

What else would you expect? Geo. Herbert Walker was Hitler''s patron, and Prescott Bush Hitler''s Banker. The Third Reich was a Bush Family enterprise.

I think you mean *** the Butcher (Henry VI, act II)

[promethe-2009]

frankmas1 your web-site is not readable by most of us.
Use real HTML, XML and Java. You are just wasting your time and money with .NET and Visual Studio.

[frankmas1]

Los Angeles might have the most ethically, morally and monetarily corrupted, anti-constitutional injustice system in the country.

My parents, survivors of the death camps, had to return to Germany in the nineties, to experience both justice and to be treated like human beings because they sure did not experience in the past 50 years here in the U.S.

Thousands of hours of Los Angeles police resources have been consumed to protect one hateful criminal family and hundreds more to

Persecute an extremely law abiding family over a period of 27 years.

Our democratic republic nation is in serious trouble. Our

Anti-constitutional government has to be stopped before it is to late.

www.american-justice.us

[frankmas1]

is Cbs blocking my comments?

[cpjordan13]

Great story by Scott Pelley, and my wife made the following comment. What do you want to bet that the female victim of this story was white and so was the last guy she was seen with before her death? Scott could you please answer my wife''s question, because if she is right it would explain a great deal.

[frankmas1]

Los Angeles might have the most ethically, morally and monetarily currupted, anti-constitutional injustice system in the country.

My parents, survivors of the Nazi death camps, had to return to Nazi germany in the nineties, to experience both justice and to be treated like human beings because they sure did not experience in the past 50 years here in the U.S.

Thousands of hours of los angeles police resources have been consumed to protect one hateful criminal family and hundreds more to

persecute an extremely law abiding family over a period of 27 years.

our democratic republic nation is in serious trouble. Our

anti-constitutional government has to be stopped before it is to

late.

www.american-justice.us

[frankmas1]

Los Angeles might have the most ethically, morally and monetarily currupted, anti-constitutional injustice system in the country. Thousands of hours of los angeles police resources have been consumed to protect one hateful criminal family and hundreds more to persecute an extremely law abiding family over a period of 27 years. our democratic republic nation is in serious trouble. Our anti-constitutional government has to be stopped before it is to late.

www.american-justice.us

[werners4]

Scott Pelley: another great story well reported

[avigil2]

Stupid white Americans! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

[dmotte]

Shoot the prosecutor, judge and anyone else connected with this case and then give this man any amount that he sues the state for.

[wegraham]

The least they could do is give guys like that a standard state pension for the rest of their lives.....I think they should give him an average salery for the 27 years he spend in jail, too.