Greg Wilhoit: The story of an innocent man

By Lisa Rea - Blog entry and original comments from www.rjonline.org or CLICK here published at The Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, a division of PFI.

I have a friend whose name is Greg Wilhoit. His story is a remarkable one. He is an exoneree who was freed from death row in Oklahoma after having served time for a crime he did not commit. He was convicted and sent to death row for the killing of his wife. The only incriminating "evidence" which convicted Greg Wilhoit was teeth marks found on the victim's body. Dental "experts" said the teeth marks matched Greg's.

His story is on the website of The Journey of Hope: Greg is active with the Journey, as are many exonerees, as he tells his story of America's broken criminal justice system.

Greg was fully exonerated and released from prison in 1993. Best seller author, and former trial attorney, John Grisham writes about Ron Williamson and Greg Wilhoit in his excellent book The Innocent Man (Bantam Dell; 2006). Williamson and Wilhoit were cell mates on Oklahoma's death row and became best friends. Both were innocent men.

Life has not been easy for Greg since his release. But life is often not easy for those who have suffered such miscarriages of justice. Though exonerated, the state of Oklahoma has refused to compensate Greg for the five years he spent on death row. However, there was an encouraging update about his case in an Oklahoma newspaper at the end of 2009.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court agrees that Wilhoit's case has merit as he and his family have pressed on seeking compensation for his years of incarceration. However, Greg Wilhoit will need a pardon from the Governor for a crime he did not commit in order to be eligible for state compensation under a state law passed in 2003. The link to the Oklahoma paper explains this tortured reasoning.

The facts are bleak for the wrongfully convicted nationwide in the U.S. According to the Innocence Project, a U.S. based nonprofit that works to free innocent men and women from prison, of the 240 people (to date) exonerated through DNA testing nationwide 40% have received no form of assistance after their release. (December 2009 Innocent Project report) The report states that 23 states in the U.S. do not offer any compensation to the exonerated. This would be the case of Greg Wilhoit.

Today Greg Wilhoit is in a California hospital struggling for his life. He has battled many things since 1993 including being hit by a car as he rode his bicycle in the summer of 2009. Will another miracle save him? I pray for that miracle as do all his many friends around the country, many exonerees themselves but many advocates for systemic justice reform. But as prayers are needed for Greg there is also a cry for justice for him and others like him who deserve compensation for crimes they never committed. They also need services to help them get back on their feet once released. Not surprisingly, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common among this growing group of exonerees. Fair compensation for the years lost plus other assistance as needed (e.g. counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, and other re-entry services) must be provided. It is the least we can do as a civil society. Then, God wiling, we will learn that convicting an innocent man to prison has its consequences.

In a system of justice based on restorative justice principles offenders are held accountable for their actions. Victims, or victims' family members and communities, are restored as much as possible. In the cases of those wrongfully convicted what happens to the victim (or the victim's family) when an innocent man is convicted? Where is the real offender? Justice has been denied and denied twice. In addition, who holds the prosecuting attorney, and the legal system, accountable after an innocent man is exonerated? I believe that is the role of a society that believes that justice is achievable. Real justice should not be denied any human being.

COMMENTS:
Posted by Bill Pelke at Mar 05, 2010 07:46 PM
God bless Greg Wilhoit

Posted by Ron Keine at Mar 05, 2010 07:46 PM
This is an excellent article. It shows what happens when our justice system wrongfully and casually discards its mistakes after ruining the lives of these innocent people. Reentry life for these forgotten castoffs is as sad a story sometimes as the actual wrongful death row incarceration. Most of these exonorees were young at the onset of their ordeal. For years they sat, wasting away in a 6 X 9 cell, while other young men were getting an education, learning job skills, trades and building careers. Starting families and building their legacies.

When regular convict is released from prison he is on parole. With that parole comes a parole officer who helps with reentry. For parolees there is help with food, housing, employment, clothes and other services. For the innocent exonoree there is nothing. Flat out nothing. Many times they sneak him out the back gate of the prison to cloak him from the press.. He stands, facing the world with no money and just the clothes on his back. Many times with no place to go. I remember when we could not find a certain exonoree we wanted to contact because there was no street address for the bridge he lived under. His parents had passed away and that wife or girlfriend deserted him years ago. He has PTSD of epic perportions from years on the row watching that damm calendar. His fear heightens daily as his life span shortens with every time he puts another X in a numbered square. . He knows the date when they plan to snuff out his life. All the while his cries of innocence are lost in the din of the cell block.

Now as an exonoree he has to find work but has nothing to offer. He has to vie with teenagers to flip burgers at a fast food place. He has no self esteem. No sense of worth.He is tainted merchandise. Even if he does find a job he is qualified to do, He can’t explain all those missing years on the job application. Is there any wonder why some of these men turn to drugs and alcohol? Is there any wonder why some of them commit suicide?

God Bless Greg
Posted by Karen Torley at Mar 06, 2010 08:01 AM
I hope and Pray that Greg gets well really soon. My thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and his friends.

I am sending this message from Glasgow in Bonnie Scotland

Hugs to Greg and please get well soon x

www.torley.org

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. . Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all... " Elie Wiesel Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986

Greg
Posted by Mary Gelonek at Mar 07, 2010 06:37 AM
I met his sister in ICU at Mercy in Sacramento on Feb. 25th. We asked what was going on with her situation as our rather large family was with our brother in law who passed the next evening. She told us her brother had been unjustly convicted of his ex-wife's murder and asked if we had ever read The Innocent Man. I told her I was just reading it but found it so disturbing that I was having trouble getting through it. I recognized Greg and felt so badly that the injustice continues. Today is March 6th, and I just finished the book. What a travesty to Greg and the other young men. Please convey my thoughts and prayers to her and the family. I live in the Sacramento area, so if there is any assistance I might be able to provide, please let me know.

Greg Wilhoit
Posted by Marietta Jaeger Lane at Mar 08, 2010 04:50 AM
How can the US claim to call itself a moral, civilized society and a "world leader" when we all too often incarcerate innocent people just so the prosecutor can get another notch on his belt or that the state can close its books on a bothersome crime? We take prime years and freedom from these innocents, then cast them out on the street with only their shower sandals on their feet and the uniform they happen to be wearing that day. Not a penny in their pockets, miles and miles from their homes (if they are still welcome there) and a heart broken and a mind messed up from being forced to live in the brutality of death row for way too many years. We need some new laws that not only generously recompenses each exoneree, pays for counseling, provides the wherewithall whereby the exoneree can get immediate housing,and also holds responsible, in some concrete way, the "justice system" personnel who committed this travesty in the first place. So sadly, there are too many exonerees whose lives, like Greg's, continue to exact more suffering from them, long after they are freed from death row. I second Bill Pelke's "God bless Greg Wilhoit!".

Posted by Lisa Rea at Mar 08, 2010 02:29 PM
I was so glad to see these excellent comments after my blog entry on the story of Greg Wilhoit. What many do not know is that two of the comments are written by those severely affected (injured) by crime. Marietta Jaeger Lane's young daughter was kidnapped and murdered. Ron Keine is an exoneree who was also on death row (in New Mexico)for a crime he did not commit. Each has a story to tell and each is working daily to change a justice system that is broken.

I am in agreement with Marietta who suggests that laws should be changed to address miscarriages of justice in the U.S. and abroad. As I said in my entry those who send innocent people to prison, and often death row, for crimes they did not commit should be held accountable once the innocent person is exonerated. Rarely do we see that. Often prosecutors, and other involved, walk away from these cases having not been affected in any way (professionally). They are still practicing law. They are still actively a part of our justice system.

Greg Wilhoit's sister Nancy said that Greg deserved an apology. Each exoneree is owed an apology as well as the financial compensation (restitution)for the lost years they spent in prison. How do you measure those years lost? For Greg, his remaining years have reflected the deep injury of a broken justice system.

This is restorative justice at work, perhaps to some, in a new way. And remember, there are still victims (of the original crime) waiting for justice. What happens to them and their cases? We have much work to do. As we remember to pray for men like Greg Wilhoit, which I do, we also must act.

Lisa Rea
Restorative Justice

Several Key Components to this case & others
Posted by Tony Calig at Mar 08, 2010 04:50 PM
As I read this brief summary regarding the plight Mr. Wilhoit has endured, several key components come readily to mind that affected his case and others. First of all, one has to question the quality of police work and rush to judgment without sufficient evidence. Secondly, the willingness of the district attorney not only to pursue a conviction in the light of the dubious evidence but the use of so called experts who are paid to take the stand with the understanding that a link is to be manufactured and presented to the jury as fact. Thirdly, the lack of any uniform compensation and restorative process for those who had been unjustly incarcerated upon their release. Finally, the safety of the community being placed in danger while a guilty party remains free perhaps to repeat their offenses. Obviously, citizens should demand accountability on all levels.

Death penalty
Posted by Mpagi Edward Edmary at Mar 09, 2010 07:43 AM
Some people think the death penalty is meant for criminals,that is wrong any body can be a victim of Wrongful conviction or death penalty.we should all join the abolition fight.
Edward -former death row inmate in Africa

Greg Wilhoit
Posted by Kimberly Cook at Mar 09, 2010 03:35 PM
Thanks, Lisa, for an excellent column and for a humane understanding of Greg's situation. I've known Greg for years and he is a truly remarkable man in many ways. I hope people will also keep in mind that Greg's two daughters have also endured a difficult legacy as a consequence of this miscarriage of justice. Their mother was murdered when they were just 4 months old and 14 months old. Their father was wrongly arrested, tried, convicted, and condemned by the OK justice system's rush to judgment. Thanks to his attorney, Mark Barrett, Greg eventually was exonerated and released; though he still endured two more years on bond in OK. The ripple effect of this wrongful conviction is vast. Greg's dauthers grew up without their mother and without their father. Their foster family was good, thank heavens, but still they grew up with the stigma of their mother's murder being blamed on their father. Greg's parents also walked through a version of hell all their own in this mess. The state of OK has never offered an apology (that doesn't cost a dime), let alone provided compensation.

Greg's current medical situation is dire. I pray he will recover. He is an amazing man -- strong, funny, smart, devoted to his cause, making productive meaning out of the tragic events in his life, devoted to his daughters and his grandchildren, and an active participant in seeking justice for so many more. He is a gracious and delightful man. We need more from Greg. The state owes so much more to him, too.

Peace, Kim

My brother Greg Wilhoit
Posted by Nancy Vollertsen at Mar 09, 2010 04:22 PM
Lisa, thank you so much for your thoughtful, inspiring article about my brother Greg Wilhoit and for faithfully visiting him and boosting his spirits. I appreciate so much all the other comments supporting Greg and our family. We absolutely feel all your prayers as we walk yet another difficult journey with him. His health situation is indeed dire and we are currently planning to leave Oklahoma tomorrow in a rented RV so we can bring him back home to be near his family. He is not going to want to come to Oklahoma (they did try to kill him after all) but unfortunately we have no choice. I know we're going to need everyone's continued prayers for what I'm sure will be an "interesting" trip home!

We are so thankful for all the amazing friends we have made since we became active in the abolition movement. Please continue the fight so no one else will ever suffer as Greg, Ron and all the other exonorees have. America is just better than that.

The above with Comments originally posted here