Innocence Texas estimates between 2% and 6% of inmates behind bars are wrongfully convicted. On ‘National Wrongful Conviction Remembrance Day’ NBC 5’s Alicia Barrera has the story.
Oct. 2 is National Wrongful Conviction Recognition Day. It's a day that hits close to home for former inmate, Richard Miles.
"When I was first arrested I was totally fearful because I had never went through this process," Miles recalled. "I was falsely imprisoned at the age of 19. I would eventually end up getting 60 years for murder and attempted murder that I had no knowledge of."
Miles' life changed about a year after graduating from Skyline High School in Dallas. He was arrested and convicted, despite the suspect description being 6 inches taller with a darker complexion than Miles.
"You understand this is way bigger than you when there are so many other men in prison that are innocent," Miles said.
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According to Innocence Texas, between two and six percent of inmates are wrongfully convicted.
That's why Dallas launched the first conviction integrity unit, and places like the UNT Dallas School of Law Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic exist. Students there review inmate cases of claimed innocence. On Monday they held an event and candlelight vigil to mark National Wrongful Conviction Recognition Day.
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'When we look at case law and we start looking at the reversals and throwing out of convictions, it seems glaring. Like how did they get there? How can they make that judgment," Cheryl Wattley, Director of UNT Dallas Joyce Ann Brown Innocence Clinic and UNT Dallas School of Law Professor. "It's because we have that theory; we're gonna make the facts fit that theory rather than looking at the facts and seeing what really happened."
Wattley was Miles' attorney in 2012 when a judge exonerated him, declaring his innocence.
"There's peace in innocence," Miles said. "If you're innocent of doing something, then there's a peace and so I think for me personally, I covered myself in my innocence.
Miles started Miles of Freedom to equip, empower, and employ inmates who are transitioning from prison back into the world.
