Innocent Man Forced to Take Plea Deal In Exchange For His Freedom

Corey Williams is impaired from severe lead-poisoning and intellectually disabled. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, he was known as a “chump” who would unwittingly take the blame for things he had not done. Three weeks after his 16th birthday in 1998, he was arrested for the robbery and murder of a pizza delivery man. 

Although the police were well aware of his intellectual disability, the ignored it and questioned him all night until he confessed to the murder. He then told them, “I’m tired. I’m ready to go home and lay down.”

 

His case was further complicated by the dishonesty of then-Caddo Parish District Attorney Hugo Holland. Holland, and his successor Dale Cox, are responsible for 75 percent of all the death sentences imposed in Louisiana between 2010 and 2015. 

Although there was no physical evidence to link Williams to the crime, Holland aggressively sought the death penalty in his case. This was despite the fact that all evidence pointed to three men who were actually seen robbing the victim after he was shot. 

Money from the victim and pizzas were found in a dumpster near where the three men lived. Fingerprints of one of the men were found on the murder weapon, and the blood of the victim was found on the clothing of one of the others. All three pinned the crime on Williams. 

Police presented evidence that showed they believed the three men conspired to frame Williams for the crime, and witnesses admitted to falsely implicating him because they were threatened by the three men. 

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