Texan District Attorneys recently exonerated a Black man, Tommy Lee Walker, who was executed 70 years ago for the rape and murder of a white woman in a case defined by racial bias.
Conducted by the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and groups such as the Innocence Project of New York and Northeastern University School of Law’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, the review of the case found many inconsistencies with statements previously given during the initial trial.
Per Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, a Dallas police officer previously claimed that the woman, 31-year-old Venice Parker, said that her attacker was a Black man.
Witnesses at the murder site, however, confirmed that Parker only“convulsed” and “hemorrhaged” following the attack before passing away at the hospital.
Four months after the murder, hundreds of Black men were questioned before 19-year-old Walker was arrested. He was arrested after KKK member and Dallas police captain Will Fritz threatened him into confessing to the killing out of fear for his life.
Although 10 witnesses in total testified that the young man was with his girlfriend at the hospital as she was giving birth to their son, Walker was still convicted by the all-white jury. His appeal was also denied by the court.
In May 1956, three years after the murder and two years after the conviction, Walker was executed at the age of 21. Approximately 70 years later, in a meeting last Wednesday, Dallas County commissioners ruled that he was wrongfully convicted and executed, passing a resolution to exonerate him.
“Acknowledging what we know to be truth — that false evidence, misconduct, and overt racism led to the execution of an innocent man — albeit 70 years later, is essential to the integrity of our legal system, the historical fabric of this country, and most importantly it is an acknowledgment of the unspeakable burden Mr. Smith and his family have carried for decades,” said Chris Fabricant, the Innocence Project attorney for Walker’s 72-year-old son Edward Smith. “We are thankful to District Attorney Creuzot and the Dallas County Commissioners for their willingness to formally recognize this gross and unforgivable miscarriage of justice.”
Walker’s case was conducted by Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade. Per the Innocence Project, 20 innocent Black men were convicted during his time. Following his death in 2008, the cases he was part of were reviewed by the Innocence Project and the then-DA. Nineteen convictions were overturned after evidence proved that Wade and his two successors wrongfully convicted them.
Unlawful investigations, ignored evidence, and a lack of communication with defense lawyers were linked to Wade under his tenure. Critics also note that a promotion system existed at the time that was linked to high conviction rates. Wade, at one point, was considered notable for his conviction rate, celebrated as a member of the “7 Percent Club.”
With the latest decision, Walker’s son admits the exoneration is bittersweet.
“It was hard growing up without a father. When I was in school, kids talked about their dads, and I had nothing to say,” said Smith. “This won’t bring him back, but now the world knows what we always knew — that he was an innocent man. And that brings some peace.”
