John Raley

John Wesley Raley III is an American attorney based in the state of Texas.[1] He is best known for his work in the legal defense of Michael Morton[3][4] and Hannah Overton.[2]

John Raley
Born
John Wesley Raley III[1]
Alma materUniversity of Oklahoma [1]
OccupationAttorney [1]
Years active07/19/1985 - Present [1]
Known forThe defense attorney for Hannah Overton and Michael Morton in the state of Texas.[2][3]

On May 2, 2018, Raley was appointed by Harris County, Texas District Attorney Kim Ogg to conduct an independent review of Alfred Dewayne Brown's overturned murder conviction from 3 years prior.[5][6]

Michael Morton case
See also: Michael Morton (criminal justice)

Michael Morton was a Texas man that was wrongfully convicted in 1987 in Williamson County, Texas for his wife's murder in 1986. Morton insisted that he was innocent while being sent to prison, claiming "I did not do this".[4] The jury foreman of the case at the time of conviction said "We all felt so strongly that this was justice for Christine and that we were doing the right thing."[7]

After a request from co-founder of the Innocence Project, Barry Scheck,[8] John Raley took over the case pro bono along with Nina Morrison of the Innocence Project. In February 2005, Morrison and Raley filed a motion for the DNA testing of Morton. For 6 years, Morrison and Raley fought in state and federal courts until they finally were granted a court order to have a bloody bandana tested.[4][9]

In an interview with 60 Minutes about the case, Raley spoke about the moment when he found police reports that he felt should have been shared with the original defense team, Raley said "It was one of those moments where you almost faint, to hold in my hand a copy of the document that the district attorney at the time had but didn't tell anyone on the defense-side...[That document] would have proved [Morton's] innocence."[4]

In 2010, Morton was offered parole if he expressed remorse over murdering his wife. Raley told the Texas Tribune about the conversation he had with Morton on the subject:

"...Michael said that he understood that he would be paroled if he only showed remorse for his crime. And I said, 'What are you going to do?' I didn’t feel like I could advise him on that because, I mean, you know [it had been] 23 years now. I don’t think anybody would have blamed him if he said, 'I’m really sorry, let me go.'

But Michael is a man of great integrity, and he would not lie to get out of prison.

And he said, 'All I have left is my actual innocence, and if I have to be in prison the rest of my life, I’m not giving that up.'...And I said, 'Michael, I promise you, I will never quit.'"[9]

In June 2011, Michael Morton was released from prison and an inquiry into the district attorney's handling of the case was opened by Raley.[10][9][11]

Hannah Overton case

Andrew Burd, son of Hannah Overton, died in their Corpus Christi home in 2006 after ingesting a lethal amount of sodium. Hannah Overton was subsequently charged and convicted of the capital murder of Andrew. While the prosecutors alleged abuse of the child due to bruises discovered on his body and a motive of having too many children to take care of (Hannah was pregnant and would have 5 children including Andrew and the pregnancy.) While the jury did not believe the prosecution's theory of the case, they convicted on the basis of Overton not taking her child to emergency care in a timely manner.[2][12]

As it turned out, multiple witnesses were not able to testify on Overton's behalf due to the defense counsel's oversight. One doctor had testified on videotape that an overdose of sodium can cause a child to easily bruise. Another that was not allowed to speak at trial had worked with Andrew before, and had knowledge that he was developmentally challenged and would eat "weird things".[2][12]

In 2007, Raley became the attorney specializing in medical evidence/law on Overton's legal team, which included Cynthia Orr; the team fought for an overturning of the trial that found her guilty due to defence team incompetence.[2][8] After appeal, the court overturned Overton and her husband's convictions and ordered a new trial. In May 2017, the Nueces County DA declined to prosecute further, and made a statement that granted Overton access to compensation for her wrongful conviction.[12]

Awards and accolades

For his work on the Michael Morton case, Raley was given the "Houstonian of the Year" award by the Houston Chronicle in 2013. The Chronicle cited Raley's time commitment to the case and unwillingness to give up on the case and implied that the case contributed to the passage of a law mandating DNA testing on all death-penalty cases.[13] In 2017, Raley was given the Clarence Darrow award by the Harris County Democratic Lawyers association, also for his work on the Morton case.[14]

For his then ongoing work on the Hannah Overton case and success in the Morton case, Raley keynoted the 6th annual Atticus Finch Day[15] One of the co-founders remarked that Raley was a "Real-life Atticus Finch" on the occasion.[8]

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References
  1. "State Bar of Texas | Find a Lawyer". State Bar of Texas. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  2. Falkenberg, Lisa. "A mother's long journey to freedom is a call to action". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  3. "Texas Center for Legal Ethics - John Raley". www.legalethicstexas.com. Texas Center for Legal Ethics. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  4. Logan, Lara. "Evidence of Innocence: The case of Michael Morton". www.youtube.com. CBS News. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  5. McCollough, Jolie (2 May 2018). "Harris County appoints investigator to conduct a review of former death row inmate's innocence claim". The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  6. http://abc13.com/da-to-review-case-of-former-death-row-inmate/3418932/. Retrieved 11 May 2018. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. Levs, Josh. "Innocent man: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life". CNN. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. Kiely, Maggie (May 3, 2014). "Virtues of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' character embodied by 'Real-life Atticus Finch'". The Eagle. BH Media Group, LLC. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  9. Grissom, Brandi (12 January 2012). "John Raley: The TT Interview". The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  10. "Michael Morton Articles". Texas Monthly. Texas Monthly. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  11. Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (20 December 2011). "Inquiry sought for Texas prosecutor over wrongful conviction". Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  12. Effron, Laura; Chang, Juju (7 March 2018). "Mom convicted in salt poisoning death to get nearly $600K for wrongful incarceration". ABC News. ABC News Network. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  13. "John Raley has helped build a foundation for justice". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, LLC. The Houston Chronicle. Jan 13, 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  14. Robbins, Mary (July 3, 2017). "Newsmakers: Week of July 3 | Texas Lawyer". Texas Lawyer. ALM Media Properties, LLC. Texas Lawyer. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  15. Fullhart, Steve (May 2, 2014). "Morton's Attorney Highlights Local Atticus Finch Day". KBTX. KBTX. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
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