Comunitďż˝ di Sant'Egidio

30/12/00

Dopo una nuova inchiesta
condannato a morte salvato dal Dna.
Louisiana, scarcerato dopo 13 anni nel braccio della morte: ďż˝ innocente

Anna Guaita

NEW YORK - ďż˝E' stata duraďż˝. Tre parole per riassumere l'orrore di tredici anni nel braccio della morte. Michael Ray Graham le ha dette a voce chiara, senza aggiungere altro. A trentasette anni, dopo aver lasciato nelle celle del penitenziario di Angola, nella Louisiana, gli anni "migliori" della sua vita, Graham ďż˝ corso a casa, in Virginia, per rivedere la sua famiglia e passare con loro l'ultimo dell'anno.
Fra pochi giorni, dallo stesso penitenziario, verrďż˝ rilasciato anche Albert Ronnie Burrell, il presunto complice di quei due omicidi del 1986: entrambi insistettero sempre di essere innocenti. Mai, mai e poi mai hanno ceduto. Eppure, gli uomini non hanno mai creduto loro: ďż˝ stata la scienza a salvarli, ďż˝ stato il solito test del Dna. Nel 1986 non era disponibile, ma due anni fa gli avvocati di Graham e Burrell hanno ottenuto che venisse studiata la provenienza genetica di alcune macchie di sangue rilevate sul luogo del terribile omicidio e presumibilmente provenienti dall'intruso colpevole del terribile omicidio. Il test del Dna provďż˝ che il sangue non proveniva nďż˝ da Graham nďż˝ da Burrell. Fu allora che il nuovo procuratore distrettuale, Frederick Duhy, ha accettato di ristudiare il caso. Ed ďż˝ stata una sorpresa: ďż˝Mi sono reso conto che le prove addotte al processo mancavano di credibilitďż˝ ha scritto Duhy. Poco dopo, il caso di Graham e Burrell ďż˝ tornato davanti a un giudice. E le parole di Duhy non hanno lasciato ombra di dubbio: ďż˝Sarebbe una violazione etica sottoporre queste persone a un nuovo processoďż˝.
Nel processo originale, il vecchio procuratore aveva portato vari testimoni oculari. Ma nella revisione compiuta da Duhy ďż˝ stato chiaro che quei testimoni erano inaffidabili: uno era un malato di mente, e altri due avevano patteggiato pene meno gravi per i loro crimini in cambio della testimonianza. ďż˝Questo caso - ha spiegato Duhy - non sarebbe neanche dovuto arrivare in tribunaleďż˝. E invece non solo ci ďż˝ arrivato, ma nel 1996 Graham ďż˝ arrivato vicino all'esecuzione. Se non fosse che l'avvocato non lo ha mai abbandonato, e ha combattuto per il test del Dna, oggi sarebbe un uomo morto, un innocente giustiziato.

LIBERI DOPO 14 ANNI IN BRACCIO MORTE

6 GEN - Due detenuti hanno lasciato un carcere della Louisiana, dove hanno trascorso 14 anni nelbraccio della morte, dopo che la giustizia ha ritirato le accuse contro di loro, ritenendo che non ci siano prove sufficienti per sostenere la loro colpevolezza.

Michael Ray Graham, 37 anni e Albert Ronnie Burrell, 45, erano stati condannati a morte con l'accusa di aver ucciso nel 1986 un'anziana coppia della Louisiana. Burrell, negli anni
scorsi, e' stato ad un passo dall'esecuzione, che fu poi fermata 17 giorni prima dell'appuntamento con il boia.

Nuove indagini e nuovi processi hanno smontato le accuse nei loro confronti, che si basavano in gran parte sulla deposizione di un informatore dell'ambiente carcerario, Olan Wayne Brantley, conosciuto con il soprannome 'Wayne il bugiardo'. La decisione di prosciogliere i due detenuti e' stata presa alla fine dell'anno e Graham e Burrell sono stati il settimo e l'ottavo condannato a morte che nel corso del 2000 sono stati riconosciuti innocenti. Dalla reintroduzione negli anni 70 della pena capitale, 92 persone sono state liberate dai bracci della morte dopo essere state riconosciute innocenti.

All'uscita dal carcere di Angola, in Louisiana, i due detenuti hanno ricevuto come 'rimborso' una giacca di jeans e una banconota da 10 dollari. ''Sto pensando di incorniciarla'', ha commentato Graham, che ha speso 127 dollari per un viaggio di 24 ore in autobus per tornare a casa, nel Vermont.

Louisiana:death row inmate freed

The 1st of 2 men who had their murder convictions overturned walked out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola Thursday afternoon.

Michael Ray Graham Jr., who spent more than a decade on death row, left the prison at about 5 p.m., a day after the Louisiana Attorney General's Office dismissed charges against him and Albert Ronnie Burrell after reinvestigating the killings of a north Louisiana couple in 1986.

Upon leaving the prison gates, Graham, surrounded by prison officials and attorneys, told reporters that life on death was "not good" and that he plans to "see my family."

Sentenced to death a year later, Burrell and Graham have maintained their innocence all along.

Burrell's release is expected to take longer and might not happen until next Tuesday, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Graham, from Roanoke, Va., is now in his 30s and has spent most of his adult life on death row. He plans to leave Louisiana as soon as he is released, his lawyer Michelle Fournet said.

"He's absolutely stunned and happy to be going home to his family," Fournet said. Burrell, who lived in Monroe before his arrest, was once 17 days away from execution in August 1996, his attorney said. The men were found guilty in 1987 in the shooting deaths of William Delton Frost and Callie Frost in the living room of their Union Parish home northwest of Monroe. They were sentenced to die in the electric chair, although Louisiana now uses lethal injections for executions.

Earlier this year, state District Judge Cynthia Woodard threw out the convictions and sentences. Defense attorneys had raised questions about the lack of physical evidence and shaky trial testimony. Attorney general's prosecutors Frederick Duhy Jr. and Ellison Travis found a "total lack of credible evidence" to connect the men with the crimes. "In fact, the undersigned prosecutors would deem it a breach of ethics to proceed to trial without evidence that would make it reasonable to argue to a jury that proof beyond a reasonable doubt exists in this instance," the prosecutors said in their notice of dismissal. The Attorney General's Office zeroed in on suspect evidence and what it called irregularities in how prosecutors handled the case. For example:

-- Prosecutors produced no physical evidence, relying solely on witness testimony, much of which since has been discredited. Witness Olan Wayne Brantley had an undisclosed history of mental illness. Also, he entered a plea deal on unrelated charges he faced, but prosecutors didn't tell the defense about it.

-- Several witnesses recanted their trial testimony.

A prosecutor, Dan Grady, offered an affidavit later that acknowledged the case against the men was weak and "should never have been brought to grand jury," the Attorney General's Office said.

The Attorney General's Office took over the case after the Union Parish district attorney voluntarily withdrew several years after the trial. As well as reviewing evidence, the Attorney General's Office commissioned new DNA tests that were not available at the time of the trial.

The tests were run on blood found at the Frosts' home that presumably came from an intruder who was cut during the break-in. The tests proved the blood did not match Burrell or Graham's. With the dismissal of charges, the Attorney General's Office also reopened the investigation of the shootings, citing a "very real possibility that someone else committed the murders ... " At trial, the prosecution withheld key information from the defense, and the attorneys appointed to represent Burrell were later disbarred in separate incidents, said Chuck Lloyd, Burrell's attorney.

"Here's 2 guys who in 14 years, despite living in the worst possible conditions, which is the only way to describe death row, have never indicated any involvement or knowledge of these crimes," Lloyd said. "They weren't there, they weren't involved."

(source: Associated Press)

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Man Freed After 13 Years on Louisiana's Death Row

ANGOLA, La. (Reuters) - Michael Roy Graham Jr., walked through the Louisiana State Penitentiary gates a free man on Thursday after the murder conviction that put him on death row for 13 years was dismissed, officials said.

His 5 p.m. CST release came one day after the state attorney general's office dismissed charges that he and co-defendant Albert Ronnie Burrell murdered an elderly couple in 1986.

A new investigation of the case was launched when a state district court judge earlier this year threw out the convictions of Graham, 37, and Burrell, 44, after defense attorneys cited questionable trial testimony and a lack of physical evidence linking the pair to the crime.

On Wednesday, attorney general's prosecutors Frederick Duhy Jr. and Ellison Travis dismissed the charges, citing ``a total lack of credible evidence'' connecting the pair to the shooting deaths of Callie and William Delton Frost.

Burrell is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday to finalize paperwork for his release, prison spokeswoman Kathy Jett said.

In dismissing the charges, the attorney general's office stated, ``In fact, the undersigned prosecutors would deem it a breach of ethics to proceed to trial without evidence that would make it reasonable to argue to a jury that proof beyond a reasonable doubt exists in this instance.''

They cited irregularities in the way original prosecutors handled the case, including relying solely on witness testimony, much of which was later discredited, and failing to disclose that a key witness had a history of mental illness and a plea agreement with prosecutors in an unrelated case in exchange for his testimony in the Frost case.

DNA tests -- unavailable in 1986 -- on blood found at the murder scene that was presumed to come from one of the intruders did not match either either Graham or Burrell, authorities said.

Graham, who has spent most of his adult life on death row, planned to return immediately to his family in Virginia, his attorney, Michele Fournet, said. He was visiting the state when he was arrested.

He had little to say as the left the sprawling prison compound northeast of Baton Rouge. ``I'm going to see my family,'' Graham said when asked about his plans.

His description of 13 years on death row was even more terse: ``It was pretty bad.''

A Men Released From Death Row
(from Death Penalty Information Center)

After spending 13 years on death row, Michael Graham was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on December 28, 2000 after the Louisiana Attorney General dismissed charges against him and his co-defendant Albert Burrell. Burrell is expected to be released next week. Graham and Burrell were sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of an elderly. Earlier this year, a judge threw out their convictions because of a lack of physical evidence and suspect witness testimony used at trial. Prosecutor Dan Grady acknowledged that the case was weak and "should never have been brought to [the] grand jury." During the trial, prosecutors withheld key information from the defense, failed to produce any physical evidence, and relied only on witness testimony, which has since been discredited. Dismissing the charges, the Attorney General's office cited a "total lack of credible evidence" and stated "prosecutors would deem it a breach of ethics to proceed to trial." Recent DNA tests proved that blood found at the victims' home did not belong to Burrell or Graham. The trial attorneys appointed to defend Burrell were later disbarred for other reasons. (Associated Press 12/28/00) The release of Burrell and Graham brings the total number of inmates freed this year to eight. Since 1973, 92 innocent inmates have been released from death row, with a record 16 inmates released from death row in the past two years. DNA evidence has played a significant role in 12 of the 92 innocence cases.