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 think there should always be two or three witnesses, not just one. That’s what the Bible says. Just one witness is too likely to be mistaken or deliberately lying.
I’d consider physical evidence as a witness. For instance, if this guy was caught pawning her stuff or if his DNA was on her couch or whatever.
I can deal easier in a free society with 100 animals, if I'm allowed to carry, than I can over a single innocent man jailed. I prefer our original constitution.
/johnny
This man should receive a public apology and he should be $$$$ compensated as well. I wish him luck and according to what was said...he is a forgiving soul. I hope he walks out into the sunshine and blue skies and starts a new life for himself and for his family. God bless him. He has suffered enough.
Innocent until PROVEN guilty. Not the other way 'round.
/johnny
People who make mistakes are still liable. To say it was a mistake doesn’t mean there can’t be consequences for making the mistake. You’re an accountant and you make an honest bookkeeping mistake that loses a million dollars, you still get investigated and maybe lose your job.
People get taken to court for making mistakes all the time. It may be accidental or unintentional, but they are still responsible.
SO when can we come by and lock you up for 25 years for thinking bad things you haven’t been caught and punished for yet.
Address I can send to police to?
Also, by your logic, the woman who wrongly ID’d him isn’t “innocent” either. Now maybe we jail her for awhile to balance the scales.
As someone in the legal profession, I always say that everyone hates lawyers until they need one. We're almost guilty till proven innocent in this country.
I am very pro-defense. I think many of these defense haters would start changing their minds with a little education. The Duke lacrosse team case work a lot of people up. There's more Mike Nifongs out there than people think. The good news for the Duke lacrosse team is that they had money and could hire some very good lawyers. Many people can't.
Everyone's entitled to a fair trial. If someone really is guilty, nail him, but not every defendant is guilty.
I've been working on a poli-sci/sci-fiction book, and you just punched some holes in the notional constitution.
/johnny
I am sorry for what you had to go through (I sure hope the guys who did that to you paid for it), but I am even happier for you that it didn’t distort your sense of justice. Or that it manifested itself in you that you took the attitude ‘all men are like this’ or some equivalent.
Would you like to be the next example? It doesn't matter, right?
Cheers!
I don't know what it sounds like. However, statistically, this area was said to have the highest amount of cases disproved by DNA in the nation. If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck...
Wow! What did I say that tripped a switch? Send me a private email if you don’t want to talk in the open about your ongoing book.
So if you get zotted, it's OK because you've committed thought crimes anyway?
Cheers!
Do you want to be "that one?"
Those that are guilty and go free do so because either:
1. The prosecution couldn't prove its case.
2. Law enforcement didn't do their jobs properly
3. Biased jury
1 and 2 are preventable by the government properly following procedures and doing their homework and respecting the rights of the populace. The third is the price we sometimes pay in a free society.
I give $$$ to these guys. I encourage you folks to give a little bit .
Our government should assist in the interests of justice.
That poor fellow; what a travesty.
Yes, there is such a thing as an innocent man. We all are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
I’ll have to say that you’ll fit right in as the country becomes a police state.
Almost? Any slight by any figure in any fashion has now become a money machine lawyers to fleece the public. Need a new Escalade...sue for it. We LOATHE these parasites. Sorry if you are one, but if you are, we think you deserve to be urinated on publicly. I understand there are good lawyers defending people...but they are few and far between. If you are, I thank you. Also, if you are, go club a nearby ambulance chaser...we need the help.
It sure was easier for Nifong back in ‘85 before all that damn CSI DNA crap ruined everything.
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