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Wrongfully Convicted

Aired June 12, 2003 - 10:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A California man celebrating his freedom after nearly 10 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Rick Walker, a former auto mechanic, was convicted of murder back in 1991, and sentenced to life.
But a judge in San Jose, California released him Monday, saying new evidence shows another man is the killer. Walker says that he harbors no anger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK WALKER, WRONGFULLY CONVICTED OF MURDER: I'm at peace. I'm not upset with anyone at all, not the judge, not the district attorney, not even the guy who this case is really about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Rick Walker joins us now from San Francisco. He's being joined by Allison Tucher, who is the attorney who fought to prove his innocence and win his release.

We're very happy to see the two of you with us this morning. Incredible story. Incredible story.

Rick, I have to begin with you. How is it you can be in a situation where someone stole 12 years of your life and you have no anger?

WALKER: I can only say that my faith in God and support of my family, and knowing that I was innocent and one day would come home, that helped me through it.

HARRIS: You always knew you would go home.

WALKER: I knew it.

HARRIS: Why? How?

WALKER: I am an innocent man. And the teachings of the Bible speak in volumes about that, right? And so -- my faith, I just stood on my faith. I believed all the time. I believed in my attorney. I -- there was a point in time where I didn't know, but when I got this attorney, I knew I was coming home.

HARRIS: Let's talk to this attorney. Allison, how did you get involved in this case? As I understand, you were still a law student when you first heard about the case, or when you first got involved? ALLISON TUCHER, WALKER'S ATTORNEY: I was a law student. I was in my last year, and I met Rick's mother and then met Rick and found out about his case. He had already been convicted, but I found out that there was some evidence that he was innocent. And so I graduated from law school and left the case in the hands of appellate attorneys who I was sure would do good work, but when the appeals were ultimately unsuccessful and I was at that point in private practice, I took him on as a client.

HARRIS: And here's the point that really blows me away. I read the story, and, Rick, I see this quote from your mother saying your father actually helped solve this case from the grave? Explain how that -- what was it your father did to get you released?

WALKER: Well, my father went around trying to get information about what happened, and he did, right. But he became ill and sick, and eventually died while I was in prison.

HARRIS: But, as I read it, he made a deposition, basically he'd gone out and conducted his own investigation in the neighborhood.

Allison, how is it that Rick's father can go out here and conduct an investigation and find enough evidence that he eventually convinces a judge to set him free, and the police and the prosecutors couldn't come up with that any of that information?

TUCHER: Well, I'm not sure the prosecutors and the police ever had the right idea about how to approach this case in 1991.

What happened is that after Rick was convicted, his father uncovered the first lead, and that first lead is one of five people that I have presented in papers to the court that I filed yesterday, one of five people who has come forward to say it's another man and not my client who was responsible for killing a woman.

HARRIS: They would tell me, if I'm innocent in that same situation, that just an apology is not enough. I understand the state has offered an apology. What else -- what other remedy do you plan on pursuing?

TUCHER: I think that question is premature, because we need to work on getting his conviction formally overturned. That's our first priority.

HARRIS: Rick, let me ask you something I've always wanted to ask someone who went through what you went through. I mean, I have to think that going in, before you went into prison, you had to be afraid. You knew you were innocent, but you had to be very, very afraid about where you were going. Now that you're out, was being in prison as bad as you thought it was going to be, as bad -- as fearful as you thought it was going to be?

WALKER: Let me tell you a little bit about my philosophy about prison. I can tell you something about when I was first incarcerated. But let me just tell you, I believe there are more people that are out in society that are in prison within themselves. If you're free inside, then I believe you're a free person, right.

But, I truly was afraid when I first went to prison, because you never know. People go into prison and they never come out, right? So, there was some fear, right, there in the beginning. I was frustrated with the system that let me down, all of that. But I came to peace with all of that.

HARRIS: Well, here's hoping that you find some peace, and lots of it, from here on out. Rick Walker, I'm very happy to have talked to you this morning. Allison Tucher, congratulations. Nice work. All the best to you. We'll continue to follow that story, because we love happy endings here.

Take care.

WALKER: Thank you for having us.

TUCHER: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right, good luck to both of you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 12, 2003 - 10:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A California man celebrating his freedom after nearly 10 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Rick Walker, a former auto mechanic, was convicted of murder back in 1991, and sentenced to life.
But a judge in San Jose, California released him Monday, saying new evidence shows another man is the killer. Walker says that he harbors no anger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK WALKER, WRONGFULLY CONVICTED OF MURDER: I'm at peace. I'm not upset with anyone at all, not the judge, not the district attorney, not even the guy who this case is really about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Rick Walker joins us now from San Francisco. He's being joined by Allison Tucher, who is the attorney who fought to prove his innocence and win his release.

We're very happy to see the two of you with us this morning. Incredible story. Incredible story.

Rick, I have to begin with you. How is it you can be in a situation where someone stole 12 years of your life and you have no anger?

WALKER: I can only say that my faith in God and support of my family, and knowing that I was innocent and one day would come home, that helped me through it.

HARRIS: You always knew you would go home.

WALKER: I knew it.

HARRIS: Why? How?

WALKER: I am an innocent man. And the teachings of the Bible speak in volumes about that, right? And so -- my faith, I just stood on my faith. I believed all the time. I believed in my attorney. I -- there was a point in time where I didn't know, but when I got this attorney, I knew I was coming home.

HARRIS: Let's talk to this attorney. Allison, how did you get involved in this case? As I understand, you were still a law student when you first heard about the case, or when you first got involved? ALLISON TUCHER, WALKER'S ATTORNEY: I was a law student. I was in my last year, and I met Rick's mother and then met Rick and found out about his case. He had already been convicted, but I found out that there was some evidence that he was innocent. And so I graduated from law school and left the case in the hands of appellate attorneys who I was sure would do good work, but when the appeals were ultimately unsuccessful and I was at that point in private practice, I took him on as a client.

HARRIS: And here's the point that really blows me away. I read the story, and, Rick, I see this quote from your mother saying your father actually helped solve this case from the grave? Explain how that -- what was it your father did to get you released?

WALKER: Well, my father went around trying to get information about what happened, and he did, right. But he became ill and sick, and eventually died while I was in prison.

HARRIS: But, as I read it, he made a deposition, basically he'd gone out and conducted his own investigation in the neighborhood.

Allison, how is it that Rick's father can go out here and conduct an investigation and find enough evidence that he eventually convinces a judge to set him free, and the police and the prosecutors couldn't come up with that any of that information?

TUCHER: Well, I'm not sure the prosecutors and the police ever had the right idea about how to approach this case in 1991.

What happened is that after Rick was convicted, his father uncovered the first lead, and that first lead is one of five people that I have presented in papers to the court that I filed yesterday, one of five people who has come forward to say it's another man and not my client who was responsible for killing a woman.

HARRIS: They would tell me, if I'm innocent in that same situation, that just an apology is not enough. I understand the state has offered an apology. What else -- what other remedy do you plan on pursuing?

TUCHER: I think that question is premature, because we need to work on getting his conviction formally overturned. That's our first priority.

HARRIS: Rick, let me ask you something I've always wanted to ask someone who went through what you went through. I mean, I have to think that going in, before you went into prison, you had to be afraid. You knew you were innocent, but you had to be very, very afraid about where you were going. Now that you're out, was being in prison as bad as you thought it was going to be, as bad -- as fearful as you thought it was going to be?

WALKER: Let me tell you a little bit about my philosophy about prison. I can tell you something about when I was first incarcerated. But let me just tell you, I believe there are more people that are out in society that are in prison within themselves. If you're free inside, then I believe you're a free person, right.

But, I truly was afraid when I first went to prison, because you never know. People go into prison and they never come out, right? So, there was some fear, right, there in the beginning. I was frustrated with the system that let me down, all of that. But I came to peace with all of that.

HARRIS: Well, here's hoping that you find some peace, and lots of it, from here on out. Rick Walker, I'm very happy to have talked to you this morning. Allison Tucher, congratulations. Nice work. All the best to you. We'll continue to follow that story, because we love happy endings here.

Take care.

WALKER: Thank you for having us.

TUCHER: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right, good luck to both of you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com