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.
“I hope the guy sues the hell out of the woman who accused him and the prosecutor who put him in jail.”
People can make honest mistakes. The problem is with the judge and jury. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” really needs to mean that, not just “he probably did it”. And every jury needs to be instructed on the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, which is much less reliable than physical evidence.
Yeah, I agree. You've been free to spout bullshit and been a free citizen at least 20 years. We should lock your stupid ass up 20 years just because...you're probably guilty of something.
People get railroaded when they have a prosecutor who is more interested in publicity than justice. I couldn’t imagine spending 23 years of my life in prison because a prosecutor wanted to make a name for himself. The punishment should be severe for a prosecutor or expert witness who lies and cheats to win a conviction.
“Wrongfully freed” What in the world could you mean. Do you mean:
1. People who are paroled and commit crimes. The solution to this is parole reform not keeping innocent people in prison.
2. People who serve out their sentence and commit other crimes? Was the original sentence too light, then you want sentencing reform. If the orginal sentence was right, then the person did their time and get their freedom.
3. Or are you arguing guys like this should not be freed? If so you are completely lost.
“Wrongfully freed” What in the world could you mean. Do you mean:
1. People who are paroled and commit crimes. The solution to this is parole reform not keeping innocent people in prison.
2. People who serve out their sentence and commit other crimes? Was the original sentence too light, then you want sentencing reform. If the orginal sentence was right, then the person did their time and get their freedom.
3. Or are you arguing guys like this should not be freed? If so you are completely lost.
The barstids that stole my knife case didn't leave (currently) tracable DNA, but I wasn't raped, either.
As a woman who has been sexually assaulted twice and raped once - I agree with you 100%.
You seem to have trouble discussing this case rationally.
If your thoughts are as filthy as your speech, then I won't be surprised if you wind up in a prison yourself. Think about it. Maybe that's what happened to the guy in this case.
Try to purify your speech and then try to purify your thoughts. If you start being more careful about what you do and what you think, you won't wind up in prison like this guy.
Unless you're really unlucky, of course.
This is wonderful. I think we owe it to the victim, the wrongly convicted, and ourselves to make this a National Program.
Are you saying that you have done something that is so bad that if convicted, wrongly, of some crime that you would deserve 27 years in the slammer and take it without complaint? I thought I had seem some stupid a** comments on FR but yours pretty much takes first prize for stupidity.
My regards on your situation, and hope you are well out of it.
I remain,
/johnny/
Sir, your a better man than me.
To be locked away, put in the presence of danger in prison, subjected to the administration of the state and haven taken away your rights. Indeed. You are a better man than me.
God bless you, and I hope your future is better than your past.
In this amazing universe, everything happens for a reason.
IMO only....I'd rather the 100 be in jail....
100 animals on the street causing havoc is in reality a much worse outcome for society than 1 innocent man in jail...
for the record, I don't trust the police or attorneys to work for justice...they work for and "end"....period...
Clean up your thoughts and then come back and we can talk about a Pardon for you.
The victim in McGowan’s case initially viewed a live lineup with three men who police thought might be suspects in the crime and three “fillers.” She did not identify any of the men as her attacker. Later, she was shown a photo array with seven photos – but there were effectively only three photos in the array, since two of them were photocopies of photographs, one was a black-and-white photo (all the others were in color), and one was marked “Garland Police Department” (while the remaining three were marked “Richardson Police Department,” which is where the crime took place). The victim said she “thought” the man in one of the three photos was her assailant, and the police officer administering the lineup told her “You have to be sure, yes or no.” When she testified in court, the victim recounted the officer’s instructions: “He said if I was going to say it was somebody, if I was going to say it was that picture, I had to be sure. He said I couldn’t think it was him. He said I had to make a positive ID. I had to say yes or no.” After hearing the officer’s instructions, the victim said the man in the photo – Thomas McGowan – was “definitely” the man who attacked her. The victim’s identification of McGowan was the central evidence against him.
And........
Before his arrest, McGowan graduated from Ryder High School in Wichita Falls, Texas. His photo was in the police system because of a minor traffic violation.
Actually, it’s Blackstone’s formulation (also known as Blackstone’s ratio or the Blackstone ratio) that states the principle...”better that ten guilty persons escape than one innocent suffer”.
Unreal.
Please, no strawmen. If you watched any of the Simpson trial you are well aware of Mr. Sheck’s trustworthiness on the question of guilt or innocence.
If someone says and does whatever he can do free one guilty person (Simpson), he may do it again.
I have no evidence, or reason to believe any fraud has take place. I am simply inquiring about the precautions being used to make certain there is none.
Given the fact that cases like this one are used as arguments against the death penalty and the fact that there many people vehemently opposed to the death penalty, it is not “paranoid” or foolish to want to make sure there is absolutely no possibility of fraud.
ROFL. You’re some kind of fundy nutcase.
Got 4 wives do ya? Eat Ice Cream and speak platitudes while you fantasize about unspeakable acts with the neighbor girl....or worse, the boy?
Don’t judge me nutter. I’m quite successful, and I don’t need any purification. That’s only for nutcases like you.
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