Willie Earl Green
Encyclopedia
Willie Earl Green was sent to prison in 1983 for the murder of a woman in a South Los Angeles
crack house
, but after a change in testimony, authorities released him from prison in March 2008.
The incriminating witness, Willie Finley, had placed Green at the scene and helped police identify him as the murderer. Mr. Finley altered his recollection, and L.A. County Superior Court
Judge Stephen A. Marcus exonerated Green, stopping short of declaring him innocent, but declaring that had the jury known the new version of events, they would have not found him guilty. Susan Breyer, the forewoman of the jury who had originally found him guilty, had come to believe in his innocence and was at the prison when Green was released, stating: "I, they, took 24 years of his life."
While Green had been involved in drugs and petty crimes before imprisonment, he attributes prison to have turned his life around. While in prison he earned an Associate of Arts
degree and ran life skills programs for inmates helping them with anger management and parenting skills. While Green was in prison, in 1999, his father died. Green also got married in prison.
South Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A. and formerly South Central Los Angeles, is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central, and is still widely known...
crack house
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, but after a change in testimony, authorities released him from prison in March 2008.
The incriminating witness, Willie Finley, had placed Green at the scene and helped police identify him as the murderer. Mr. Finley altered his recollection, and L.A. County Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
Judge Stephen A. Marcus exonerated Green, stopping short of declaring him innocent, but declaring that had the jury known the new version of events, they would have not found him guilty. Susan Breyer, the forewoman of the jury who had originally found him guilty, had come to believe in his innocence and was at the prison when Green was released, stating: "I, they, took 24 years of his life."
While Green had been involved in drugs and petty crimes before imprisonment, he attributes prison to have turned his life around. While in prison he earned an Associate of Arts
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
degree and ran life skills programs for inmates helping them with anger management and parenting skills. While Green was in prison, in 1999, his father died. Green also got married in prison.
Quotes
- "The system that put me in here was the same system that got me out. It's not perfect, but it's the best system in the world."
- "I was wrongly accused. I'm out now, I'm not bitter. I'm happy today."
External links
- Judge voids conviction in '83 killing, LA TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Jack Leonard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 11, 2008.