Death Row Inmate Freed; Judge Is Told Trial Witnesses Lied

BAY MINETTE, Ala. —  An inmate who spent 4 1/2 years on Death Row was freed Tuesday after prosecutors told a court that he was wrongly convicted for a 1986 murder.

Walter McMillian, 52, walked out of court into the arms of relatives after Baldwin County Circuit Judge Pam Baschab granted a defense motion to drop all charges. Prosecutors told the judge that three witnesses lied at McMillian’s trial.

“I guess they’ll get what’s coming to them down the road,” McMillian said. “I’m innocent. God knows, I’m innocent.”

Monroe County Dist. Atty. Tommy Chapman said he did not handle the 1988 trial that resulted in McMillian’s capital murder conviction. Chapman also said the statute of limitations on possible perjury charges against the witnesses has expired.