0812994523.pdf

courtroom became quiet. Judge Norton was looking at Myers attentively.
I walked over to begin my examination. After asking him to state his name for the record
and establishing that he had previously appeared in court and testified against Walter
McMillian, it was time to get to the heart of things.
I walked closer to the witness stand.
“Mr. Myers, was the testimony that you gave at Mr. McMillian’s trial true?” I was hoping
that the judge couldn’t see I was holding my breath waiting for Ralph to answer. Ralph
looked at me coolly but then spoke very clearly and confidently.
“Not at all.” There was more murmuring in the courtroom now, but the crowd quickly
quieted to hear more.
“Not at all,” I repeated before continuing. I wanted Ralph’s recantation to sink in, but I
didn’t want to hesitate too long because we needed a lot more.
“Did you see Mr. McMillian on the day that Ronda Morrison was murdered?”
“Absolutely not.” Ralph looked steady as he spoke.
“Did you drive his truck into Monroeville on that day?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did you go into Jackson Cleaners when Ronda Morrison was murdered?”
“No. Never did.”
I didn’t want the court to think that Ralph was robotically denying everything I asked him,
so I asked a question that required an affirmative answer. “Now, at Mr. McMillian’s trial, did
you give some testimony that there was a white man inside the cleaners when you went
inside?”
“Yes, I did.”
I had gone as long as I dared asking Ralph yes/no questions. “What was that testimony,
please?”
“As I can recall, the testimony was that I had overheard Walter McMillian saying something
to this guy, and I had also recalled saying that I had seen the back part of his head, but that’s
just about all I can recall on that.”
“Was that testimony true, Mr. Myers?”
“No, it wasn’t.” Now the judge leaned in to listen with rapt attention.
“Were any of the allegations you made against Walter McMillian as being involved in the
Ronda Morrison murder true?”
Ralph paused and looked around the courtroom before he answered. For the first time there
was emotion in his voice, regret or remorse.
“No.”
It seemed that everyone in the courtroom had been holding their breath but now there was
an audible buzz from many of Walter’s supporters.
I had a copy of the trial transcript and took Ralph through every sentence of his testimony
against Walter. Statement by statement he acknowledged that his previous testimony was
entirely false. Myers was direct and persuasive. He would frequently turn his head to look
Judge Norton directly in the eye as he spoke. When I made him repeat the parts of his
testimony about being coerced to testify falsely, Ralph remained calm and conveyed absolute
sincerity. Even during the lengthy cross-examination by Chapman, Myers was unwavering.
After relentless questioning about why he was changing his testimony and Chapman’s