A Judge’s Unlikely Heroism

By Leland C. Abraham, Esq.

Exoneration by DNA evidence is a mechanism that has changed the landscape of jurisprudence in recent years. Many convicted felons have been released as a result of newly discovered evidence that either points to another suspect, or proves innocence. No county, in the United States, has seen the release of as many innocent prisoners as Dallas County, Texas.

Earlier this year, Charles Chatman was released, after spending some twenty-seven (27) years in prison for a rape that he did not commit. At the time of his release, he was the fifteenth (15th) convicted prisoner in Dallas County to be released by DNA evidence since 2001. At the time of his release, Mr. Chatman was forty-six (46) years of age, spending the majority of his life behind bars. As tragic and unsettling his wrongful conviction is, the story of John Creuzot, the Judge who presided over Chatman’s release, is as heroic.

Judge Cruezot was appointed to the Criminal District Court No. 4 by Democratic Governor Ann Richards in 1991. Since he assumed the bench, Judge Creuzot sought to work inside and outside the courtroom to find innovative ways to meet the challenges that were facing the community in Dallas County. One of the challenges that faced the entire Texas community was the number of black males that were incarcerated. This number was especially high in Dallas County. Upon further examination, Judge Creuzot discovered that the legal system the country prides itself on, did not work as equitably for poor citizens and racial minorities. He teamed up with the Innocence Project of Texas and began to review those cases in which there were questions of quilt.

Of the fifteen (15) wrongfully convicted inmates to be released from the Dallas County Prison, the vast majority have been released on Judge Creuzot’s watch. In Chatman’s case, Judge Creuzot recommended that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals find him not guilty after DNA evidence proved that he did not commit rape. Several of Chatman’s relatives were present, fighting back tears. Those tears turned to cheers when Chatman was finally released.
Chatman’s case was not simple to overturn. Chatman, who was twenty (20) when he was convicted of rape, was picked out of a line up from the victim, who was in her twenty’s (20’s) at the time. The victim also identified Chatman at trial. Serology tests also matched the type of blood found at the scene of the crime to Chatman’s blood type. This same blood type would be a match to 40% of the black male population. Although Chatman had an alibi for the crime, he was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault in 1981 and given a prison sentence of 99 years.

Judge Creuzot recommended that Chatman’s case be run through the DNA testing system. The results of these tests pointed away from Chatman. This was not an easy venture for a judge who was appointed to take felons off the streets. Many in the Dallas County community felt that Judge Creuzot was mis-spending tax payer dollars by doing DNA tests on cases that were decades old. Judge Creuzot also risked his political future by ignoring the voices of his constituents and doing what he felt he had a moral obligation to do, which is to free those who have been wrongfully convicted.

One of the largest reasons why Judge Creuzot has been successful in rectifying some of the wrongful convictions is the Dallas County’s crime lab willingness to review about half of the state’s DNA cases. Is what’s happening in Dallas County, Texas unique? Not really. The same review occurred in Illinois a few years ago. In 2003, after some thirteen (13) inmates under the death penalty were exonerated, Illinois Governor George Ryan commuted all death sentences to life in prison. This decision affected some 156 inmates. While Illinois Governor Ryan was heavily criticized at the time for his decision, he stated at a speech at Northwestern University, “Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error: error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. What effect was race having? What effect was poverty having?” Even though Illinois Governor Ryan knew he would be heavily criticized for this decision, he felt it was a “burden” that he was willing to bear to ensure those who are innocent receive justice under our legal system.

Like Illinois Governor Ryan, Judge Cruezot has burdened himself with the hopes and expectations of the family members of those who have been wrongfully convicted by the Texas Penal system in Dallas County, Texas. He has made ground breaking progress in correcting injustices that have lingered in the Texas justice system for some thirty (30) plus years. His hope, like mine, is that the progress of Dallas County, Texas does not become the exception, but it becomes the norm. Perhaps the time has come where every county in every state must review its system of jurisprudence and attempt to correct the wrongs that have destroyed the nucleus of family members accused of wrongdoing for decades. For those who struggle to find a hero in today’s climate of capitalism and commercialism, one need not look further than Judge John Creuzot.

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