0812994523.pdf

just maybe, we could persuade local officials to retreat from the case against Walter. I made a
motion to reconsider the denial of a new trial for Mr. McMillian. I immediately got an
affidavit from Darnell stating that Hooks’s testimony was a lie. I took the risk of talking to a
few local lawyers about whether the new prosecutor might acknowledge that the conviction
was unreliable and support a new trial if there was compelling new evidence.
Several people had suggested that Tom Chapman, the new Monroe County district attorney
and a former criminal defense attorney, would be fairer and more sympathetic to someone
wrongly convicted than lifelong prosecutor Ted Pearson. After Pearson’s long tenure as D.A.,
Chapman’s election represented something of a new era. He was in his forties and had talked
about modernizing law enforcement in the region. Some said that he was ambitious and
might want to run for statewide office someday. I also discovered that he had represented
Karen Kelly in a prior proceeding, which told me that he was already familiar with the case. I
was hopeful.
I was still sorting out how to proceed when Darnell called me at my office.
“Mr. Stevenson, you have to help. They arrested me this morning and took me to the jail. I
just got out on bond.”
“What?”
“I asked them what I had done. They told me I was being charged with perjury.” He
sounded terrified.
“Perjury? Based on what you told Mr. McMillian’s lawyers a year ago? Have they come to
interview you or talk to you since we got your statement? You were supposed to let me know
if you heard from them.”
“No, sir. I haven’t heard from any of them. They just came and arrested me and told me I
had been indicted for perjury.”
I hung up with Darnell, shocked and furious. It was unheard of to indict someone for
perjury without any investigation or compelling evidence to establish that a false statement
had been made. Police and prosecuters had found out that Darnell was talking to us and they
decided to punish him for it.
A few days later, I called the new D.A. to set up a meeting.
On my way to his office, I decided to give him a chance to explain what was going on,
instead of angrily complaining about the insanity of indicting someone for perjury because he
had contradicted a State’s witness. I decided to wait until after my meeting before filing my
stack of motions. This was my first meeting with anyone associated with Walter’s prosecution,
and I didn’t want to begin with an angry accusation. I had allowed myself to believe that the
people who had prosecuted Walter were just misguided, possibly incompetent. I knew some
of them were bigoted and abusive, but I guess I held out the hope that they could be
reoriented. Indicting Darnell was a worrisome signal that they were willing to threaten and
intimidate people.
The Monroe County courthouse is situated in the heart of downtown Monroeville. I drove
into town, parked, and entered the courthouse looking for the district attorney’s office. On my
only other trip to the courthouse a month earlier, I had gone to the clerk’s office to pick up
files and the staff had asked me where I was from. When I said Montgomery, they launched
into a lecture about Monroeville’s prominence as a result of Harper Lee and her famous novel.
I remember how the clerk had chatted me up.