A convicted man who was on death row eager to prove his innocence after prosecutors who handled his case were found to have falsified evidence to convict other suspects, has died.
Donnis Musgrove
A man has died on death row after fruitless effort to clear his name over a murder that happened almost 30 years ago he claimed not to have committed.
Donnis Musgrove, 67, died at the Donaldson correctional facility in Bessemer, Alabama, on Wednesday night. Musgrove had been convicted and sentenced to death with another man, David Rogers, for the shooting of Coy Barron in 1986.
He steadfastly maintained his innocence, and his lawyers said the prosecution had falsified the evidence against him, including witness statements and a shell casing that was used to link him to the shooting.
Lawyer Cissy Jackson said she had been working with the convicted man for a number of years and told the Associated Press she was sad her client had not lived long enough to see his name cleared. He had been suffering from lung cancer.
“It was a privilege to know and represent Donnis.
“My husband and I have been working for his release since 1997, and we are so sorry that he did not live to be exonerated.” Ms Jackson said in a statement.
In May, a local judge who as a lawyer had represented Musgrove’s co-accused, said he believed both men had received a raw deal. The co-accused has since died.
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tommy Nail had said he hoped a federal review would clear Musgrove.
“I really think they got a raw deal and I’ve always felt they were not guilty of this offence,“ he said.
Musgrove was trying to become the third inmate freed from Alabama’s death row since April. Two other men were released after winning appeals. One, Anthony Ray Hinton, was tried by the same Jefferson County prosecutor and judge who handled Musgrove’s case. The same ballistics expert was involved in each case.