Posted on 04/16/2008 7:28:06 PM PDT by Strategerist
After spending nearly 23 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, Thomas Clifford McGowan on Wednesday heard the words that set him free.
"Words cannot express how sorry I am for the last 23 years," said state District Judge Susan Hawk, moments after overturning his convictions. "I believe you can walk out of here a free man."
McGowan, 49, won his freedom after a DNA test this month proved what he had always professed: that he did not rape a Dallas-area woman in 1985 and then burglarize her apartment. He was convicted of both crimes in separate trials in 1985 and 1986 and sentenced to life each time. The primary evidence against him turned out to be misidentification by the rape victim.
"I've been living a life of a living hell and my nightmare is finally over with," McGowan said after the hearing. "This is the first day of my life. I'm going to go forward."
Hawk's ruling, which now must be affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, makes McGowan the 17th Dallas man since 2001 to have his conviction cast aside because of DNA testing. That's the most of any county in the nation, according to the Innocence Project, a New York-based legal center that specializes in overturning wrongful convictions.
Overall, 31 people have been formally exonerated through DNA testing in Texas, also a national high. That does not include McGowan and at least two others whose exonerations will not become official until Gov. Rick Perry grants pardons or the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issues its rulings.
The crowded courtroom included dozens of McGowan's relatives. Also attending were three Dallas County men who had been wrongly convicted and eventually exonerated by DNA testing. They greeted McGowan with handshakes and hugs, and one gave him a $100 bill to "get him started."
McGowan, wearing a button-down shirt and slacks, looked trim and relieved. He said he prayed frequently and was benefiting from some "powerful forces." While in prison, one of McGowan's sisters died, and he said he missed watching his sibling's children grow up.
"I know God forgives, so hey, I've got to forgive, too," McGowan said. "It's not going to benefit me to be harboring anger or resentment."
McGowan's wrongful imprisonment began in May 1985 when a Richardson woman returned home and came upon a burglar in her apartment. The man bound her hands with his belt, raped her at knifepoint and then loaded his car with several items stolen from her apartment, according to court documents.
Police eventually presented the woman with a photo array of seven men. She picked out McGowan's photo, saying she "thought" he was the attacker. But police told her she had to be certain and "couldn't just think it was him," she testified in court. It was then that she said McGowan was "definitely" the attacker, according to court documents.
Just a few words from a police officer can significantly influence whether a witness identifies the wrong person, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck said.
"It's not that the police officer involved in this matter was intentionally doing anything wrong. He wasn't," Scheck said. "That kind of a forced choice response ... is very, very damaging."
More exonerations are expected in Dallas County, where District Attorney Craig Watkins has set up a program in which law students, supervised by the Innocence Project of Texas, are reviewing hundreds of cases in which convicts have requested DNA testing to prove their innocence. About 10 Dallas County cases are in various stages of investigations and DNA testing, and another exoneration is likely within the next few weeks, prosecutors said.
Watkins said he plans to lobby other prosecutors to put in place similar programs.
"This should not be a pilot program that lasts two or three years," Watkins said.
The DNA from McGowan's case yielded a full profile that is now being run through state and federal databases, assistant prosecutor Mike Ware said. If a match is found, it could identify the true rapist.
On the argument of “government has the monopoly on the legal use of deadly force”,
I yield.
The OJ case is one of the most botched up prosecution and Law enfocement jobs I’ve ever seen. If they did their homework, he would have been convicted.
If the courts are so interested in justice, it would seem they would be more than willing to go back and reexamine questionable cases where potential DNA evidence was secured. Innocent people being sent to prison seems to be occurring much too often. I just can't imagine an innocent person being sent into one of these violently insane environments. It's the stuff scary horror movies are made of.
Your comment is BS, complete with spelling errors.
The only reason OJ walked was because of racist black jurors.
End of story, case closed.
Wrong! I believe we should execute rapists and I don't mean after twenty years of appeals brought for the purpose nitpicking the Jury's decision.
Had this guy been executed within a reasonable time after trial, his death would have served as a deterrent to other would-be rapists and many rapes might have been prevented. This guy would have died for his country just like soldiers often do and they're not guilty either. Challenging the Jury's Decision in this case has done nothing but muddy the deterrent message.
I agree with you, though, that executing someone who is technically not guilty of that particular crime can seem harsh in the individual case. But, you need to look at the larger picture because that's what counts.
You're joking right?
He wasn’t being sarcastic. Look at his last post (145). He was being serious. Just unbelievable. For him not to grasp the concept that locking an innocent man up in prison for life, for a crime he didn’t commit, is not a deterrent to rapists. If anything, it’s encouragement for all rapists to continue assaulting people because they can get away with it.
If you're concerned about the "big picture," why don't you falsely confess to some unsolved murder and then waive your appeals?
When I was a boy, the police and, especially, the FBI, were my heroes. But over the many years of my life, I have seen enough to change my mind about them. Sad, really.
I went back to read his posts, and I agree with you. I can probably assume his attitude would be different if he was wrongly convicted.
I'm amazed that so many have so little sense.
Picking up conditioner, when you wanted shampoo, is a MISTAKE.
Making a false accusation (bearing false witness) is not a mistake.
If a victim is so traumatized that a miscarriage of justice like this can occur, I'd say that calls their fitness to ID the perp into question.
Victim, my @ss...was she competent to testify, or not?
It is appeals like this one that cause the damage.
Man, I hope there was a (/sarc) in there somewhere...
BUMP
Reading my mind.
Unlike mistaken convictions (which serve as a deterrent to others so long as no one meddles with them), false confessions are destructive to the system. You keep forgetting that I am the one who is SUPPORTING the system, not trying to damage it by questioning the system's results.
We're all guilty. There is only one path to Salvation.
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