Innocent Black Man Freed after 25 years in Prison, Wrongfully Convicted of Murder
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Willie Earl Green left a California court a free man, after he had spent a full 25 years in prison for killing a woman in Los Angeles
Green never confessed to the murder and the judge decided to dismiss the charges after it was established that the main witness, Willie Finley, lied at the first trial. He also admitted to having been high on either crack or cocaine at the house in South Los Angeles at the time of the murder, and in fact unable to positively identify Green. Had the court been privvy to this information during the original trial, the judge ruled, the case would have been thrown out.
The fact that Green was a human rights activist and his claims that he never would have killed a human being were of no interest to anybody.
As he left San Quentin State Prison, Green, who has maintained his innocence throughout his ordeal, had this to say to reporters: "I do not hate anybody. I am a better man today. I graduated from college. I teach school. I teach men. The men in San Quentin believe in me. Today is a glorious day. It's a great day. I never gave up on this day. I knew one day this day would come. I never asked for mercy. I only asked for justice to be served, and it was served today – Green said.
A drug dealer accused Green for murder
Green was to serve a 33-year sentence for the mugging and murder of Denise “Dee Dee” Walker in 1983.
According to court documents, Green and another person allegedly entered the home of key witness Finley and shot Denise while she was preparing cocaine in the kitchen.
A month after the homicide, police arrested Finley for dealing drugs. During the interrogation they showed him photographs of suspects in the Walker case and Finley could not pick out the culprit.
Some time later, Willie earl Green and his cousin, who was at the time in a relationship with Denise, were arrested. The cousin was later cleared of suspicion because he had been in jail on the night of the murder.
He ended up in court for having no alibi
Green, who told the police that he had nothing to do with the Walker case because he was not in town at the time, unfortunately, could not provide and alibi.
The police immediately visited Finely in prison and showed him another set of photographs of suspects which this time included one of Green. Finley pointed him out as the murderer.
No other evidence that would connect Green to the crime scene were ever found and the prosecution founded its case only on Finley’s statement.
The key witness was high on cocaine during the time of the murder
Once it had been established that Finley was under the influence of cocaine at the time of the murder and that he did not see the attackers clearly, Green was freed of all charges. But the Walker case remains unsolved.
- I don't hate anybody. I don't hate Willie Finley for doing what he did. I forgive him, too - Green said, adding that he had never met Finley and that it was incredible that he had spent so much time in prison while the real killers were free.
- Everybody's talking about me. But nobody's talking about the victim. She didn't get any justice. Me being locked up for 25 years didn't give her any justice – he said. [MORE] and [MORE]
