Taylor Hardin explained that Myers had told him that “his prior ‘confessions’ are bogus and
were coerced out of him by the police through keeping him physically and psychologically
isolated.”
We presented evidence from Taylor Hardin staffer Dr. Kamal Nagi, who said that Myers
had told him of “another murder that occurred in 1986 where a girl was shot in the
Laundromat. [He] said that the ‘police and also my lawyer want me to say that I had driven
these people to the Laundromat and they shot the girl, but I won’t do it.’ ” Myers also told
Nagi, “They threatened me. They want me to say what they want to hear and if I don’t then
they tell me, ‘You’re going to the electric chair.’ ”
We had evidence from a fourth doctor to whom Myers confided that he was being
pressured to give false testimony against Walter McMillian. Dr. Bernard Bryant testified that
Myers told him “he did not commit the crime and that at the time he was incarcerated for the
crime, he was threatened and harassed by the local police authorities into confessing he
committed a crime.”
We emphasized to the court throughout the day’s hearing that all of these statements were
made by Myers before the initial trial. Not only did these statements make Myers’s recantation
more credible but they had also been documented in medical records that had never been
turned over to Walter’s trial lawyers, as the law required. The U.S. Supreme Court has long
required that the prosecution disclose to the defendant anything that is exculpatory or that
may be helpful to the defendant in impeaching a witness.
The supporters whom the State had brought to court and the victim’s family seemed
confused by the evidence we were presenting—it complicated the simple narrative they had
fully embraced about Walter’s guilt and the need for swift and certain punishment. State
supporters began to leave the courtroom as the day went on, and the number of black people
who were let into the room grew. By the end of that second day, I felt very hopeful. We had
maintained a good pace and the cross-examinations had been shorter than I had expected. I
thought we could finish our case in one more day.
I was tired but feeling pleased as I walked to my car that evening. To my surprise, I noticed
Mrs. Williams sitting outside the courthouse on a bench, alone. She stood when our eyes met.
I walked over, remembering how unsettled I had been to see her leave the courtroom.
“Mrs. Williams, I’m so sorry they did what they did this morning. They should not have
done it, and I’m sorry if they upset you. But, so you know, things went well today. I feel like
we had a good day—”
“Attorney Stevenson, I feel so bad. I feel so bad,” she said and grabbed my hands.
“I should have come into that courtroom this morning. I was supposed to be in that
courtroom this morning,” she said and began to weep.
“Mrs. Williams, it’s all right,” I said. “They shouldn’t have done what they did. Please don’t
worry about it.” I put my arm around her and gave her a hug.
“No, no, no, Attorney Stevenson. I was meant to be in that courtroom, I was supposed to be
in that courtroom.”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Williams, it’s okay.”
“No, sir, I was supposed to be there and I wanted to be there. I tried, I tried, Lord knows I
tried, Mr. Stevenson. But when I saw that dog—” She shook her head and stared away with a