May 14
TEXAS:
James A. Fry: I put away an innocent man
When I prosecuted Charles Chatman for aggravated rape in 1981, I was
certain I had the right man. His case was one of my first important felony
cases as a Dallas County assistant district attorney. Chatman was
convicted in a court of law by a jury of his peers. They, like me, were
convinced of his guilt.
Nearly 27 years later, DNA proved me and the criminal justice system
wrong. Chatman was freed from prison in January after DNA testing proved
him innocent. He spent nearly three decades behind bars for a crime he did
not commit a stark reminder that our justice system is not immune from
error. No reasonable person can question this simple truth.
I am proud of having been a prosecutor; it is honorable work. In fact, I
still have a portrait of former Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade
in my law office. He was a good man, and he gave me a chance to be a trial
lawyer. However, my unknowing involvement in prosecuting an innocent man
has been a troubling experience.
Chatman's story is tragically not unique. The staggering number of
exonerations attest to just how easily the innocent can be convicted.
Nationally, 225 people have been released from prison after DNA testing
proved their innocence. 17 of them had been sentenced to death. Twenty DNA
exonerations were from Dallas County alone, the most of any U.S.
jurisdiction. The vast majority of those exonerated in Dallas County would
still be in prison but for the fact Dallas preserved its DNA evidence.
As with so many of these cases, Chatman was convicted on the testimony of
one eyewitness. Witness misidentification is one of the greatest causes of
wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75 % of cases
with DNA exonerations.
The fault in Chatman's case, however, lies not with the victim, who
honestly believed she had identified the right man. Instead, it lies in
part with the flawed witness identification procedures used by law
enforcement agencies. Research has shown that relatively small changes can
greatly improve witness accuracy, changes we urgently need to implement.
Witness identification is not the only contributor to wrongful
convictions. Far from it. Politicians a category that includes elected
officials, district attorneys and judges need to be less concerned about
remaining in office and more concerned with determining the truth. More
effort needs to be given to see that court-appointed attorneys have
adequate compensation and investigation funds. Until these issues are
addressed and reforms put in place, the number of innocent men and women
sent to prison will continue to rise.
Chatman's case was not a capital crime, but the problems that led to his
wrongful conviction raise the question: How can we continue carrying out
executions in Texas when we know the system is so prone to error?
For years, Texas has led the nation in the number of executions. Why don't
we now strive to lead the nation in a new direction: reforming a justice
system in urgent need of reform?
For years I supported capital punishment, but I have come to believe that
our criminal justice system is incapable of adequately distinguishing
between the innocent and guilty. It is reprehensible and immoral to gamble
with life and death.
I am no bleeding heart. I have been a Republican for over 30 years. I
started my career as a supporter of removing violent people from society
for as long as possible, and I still believe that to be appropriate.
But I also believe that the government should be held to the strictest
burden before it deprives a citizen of his freedom. It is not too much to
ask that we not convict and execute innocent people in our quest to
enforce the law. Let's get this system fixed.
(source: Opinion, Dallas Morning News—-James A. Fry was a Dallas County
assistant district attorney from 1980 to 1982 and currently practices
family law in Sherman)