Calvin Willis was convicted of the 1981 rape of a 10-year-old girl in Shreveport and sentenced to life without possibility of parole. Calvin turns from the judge to face Mrs. Newton. He'd gotten into it with Maxine a month before. In legal terms, Calvin's case has been "exhausted." "We got a black church on every corner in this neighborhoodwhere they been?" Willis, who is 56 and lives with his wife and grandson, said he has struggled to find work. Of course it can, for the oldest, tritest reason of all: He's black and poor. Because he finally can, he begins to take back the anger Janet has been carrying for him. Calvin Willis - Public Records - ClustrMaps.com Calvin's way of being, showing his heart to God through constant conversation while showing the world the face of a zombie, takes enormous effort. She explains that exoneration by DNA evidence is a long shot. "Do I look like I got a hole in the top of my head?". He tells Janet she'll need to raise $2,500, though by the time all is said and done the bill will top $14,000. "but people don't know what exonerated means. The Newtons, they were as filled with God, exuberantly and tremulously, as people can be on this earth, and they taught their boy how to open his heart to God, how to talk to Him and praise Him with song. She just wrapped me up and hugged me tight," Willis remembers. information about the Registry, Mistaken Witness ID, False or Misleading Forensic Evidence, Official Misconduct. What am I to do -- pick up cans? Willis asked. She even hits up a retired prosecutor named Carey Schimpf. Big Hands, they call him. Project attorneys decided Willis case looked promising but told Willis he would have to come up with some money for the DNA testing. George Calvin Willis. "Mama," Lucretia says, when Barbara appears. Carlos DeLuna: Probe says wrong man executed in Texas. Wilton Dedge: convicted of rape, at 20, based on 2 pubic hairs found on the victim's bed sheets. "He love you!". She goes limp. Years ago, in an alcoholic stupor, he killed a jogger with his pickup truck. In early 1991 he files another writ of habeas corpus in federal court. There was no additional biological evidence that could be tested, Blake said in a telephone interview Friday. ", "Monday night?" Gideon Baptist Church was called to his eternal rest by his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Sunday,. He says nothing. Now they converse when Calvin is in his car, or walking down the street, or in the shower, and after they hang up, Calvin often finds himself singing. In June 1981, an intruder entered a home in Shreveport, Louisiana, where three girls (aged 7, 9, and 10) were sleeping. A beard. He actually thinks she's a secretary. "I can go to a job right now and I can put 'exonerated' on a job application," he says. He tells her about scouring the dictionary in the prison library for new, long, strong, clean words: phenomenon, fastidious, punctilious, omnipotent. Another reason Janet has traveled 260 miles is to look Calvin in the eye, and she does so now. The donations rarely top $50. He tells her he is losing his grasp on time, losing his ability to _count, _in a way; how during his first four years of imprisonment, at Caddo Correctional, time was still solid, still the bedrock of his reality, each day marked by a beginning and an end linked by a continuous line of being, but how at Angola, a place that cannot possibly be real (can it? The first, a health fair scheduled for May 7, will focus on everything that helps a community, including physical and mental health, substance abuse and violence prevention. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. The DA says he himself has just learned of it. "I said, 'Who are you?' Even her swearing-in raises questions. Even if the DNA in the rape kit and on the bor shorts has been preserved, the DA's office might refuse to release the file. And you will. The state now has the DNA profile of the man who did this. Calvin Willis - Innocence Project He says the things one says to a child. . Directed by Jessica Sanders, the film took the Special Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Calvin's accounteverything from where he was, and when, to the beige shoes he was wearingsquares perfectly with the testimony of his friends, Jerome and Gerald, with whom he spent the night of June 8, and with that of his wife. Willis was sent to Angola, labeled a child rapist. into the receiver. In the five years he's known her, she's been singing the same song. Cowboy hat and cowboy boots. "I was a size 5 when you left. 10 years since the disappearance of Jessica Heeringa in Norton Shores When he says he is, Edward comes forward. But to be honest, I am disappointed in the system -- the unjustness of holding me here all this time -- and I am not the only one who has suffered like this.. He feels odd. I will raise the money. She got a daughter. Then about five years ago, after Willis had heard about the national Innocence Project from another inmate, Gregory submitted forms to the organization. One day he goes so far as to sneak into a room he's not supposed to be in. DNA evidence freed him from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 2003. "Miss," he finally says, "I haven't worn clothes in twenty-two years. He attended Pebblebrook High School, Fellowship Christian Academy and went on to receive his bachelor's degree in Health Care Administration from Florida A&M University. Posted March 31 2022 02:53pm. I will write the letters. One is with a death-row inmate named Wayne Felde, whom her boss represents on appeal. The house has no phone. After a few hours she goes back to Perrin Street, where she and Maxine and a few of their neighbors start to hash things out. Willis, 49, now lives in San Diego. Menu Log In Sign Up The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. The Innocence Project and Boren had thrown themselves into Willis' case, and Willis thanked them. He's due to take his written test this very day. I don't got to rape nobody." I feel great about getting out of prison, Willis said in a telephone interview shortly before he was released from Angola State Penitentiary. A 52-year-old D.C. police officer accused of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend was ordered to stay away from her and any firearms following allegations his assaulted her. Yet having met Calvin in person only once, seven years before, she barely knows his face. Calvin was a giver who enjoyed playing cards, making money, watching his soap operas, and being around his grandchildren.. ", "I have good people skills, so I'm hoping I have a job with the public," Jackson said. People named Calvin Willis Find your friends on Facebook 0 Hb. Willis himself testified that he had dropped off his friend and returned home before midnight. She is, simply, a terrified child, saying "yes" both literally and effectively to whatever is being asked, no matter who's asking, and casting a veil of confusion. A Louisiana man was released from the state penitentiary Friday after spending nearly half his life behind bars for a rape that DNA evidence now shows he did not commit. _Until recently, he's scattered himself around town. Calvin Willis - Plant Maintenance Facility Supervisor - LinkedIn He tells her what it's like not to see his wife and children and mother, and how the ghost of things not done haunts his conscience. The court ruled that Mr. Reeds challenge to Texas' post-conviction DNA testing statute was filed on time. Could you pick something out for me?". The girl's face is a shell, lumpy and discolored. By her own admission she was raised among racists, though she herself has never bought into that. Most are Baptists or born-again evangelicals, a handful of generations removed from slave theology, who believe that the reward for people such as them lies in the next plane and that there is little if any human agency in this world. As he sizes himself up in the mirrorthe sheen of his Jheri curl; the ivory shirt cuffs that show off, by contrast, those giant languorous hands of his; the thick black belt with the nickel-plated buckle, tightly cinched around the taper of his twenty-nine-inch waisthe chats casually with his Jesus. The lawyer they hire, a man named Stacey Freeman, believes the state had no cause even to suspect, much less arrest, Calvin, and waives his client's right to a jury trial. Bright and Jackson were among about a dozen high school students who listened intently Monday as Shreveporter Calvin Willis described his 22 years in prison. You must bear witness to yourself. It is his anger that debases and emasculates him most, even more than all his unspent love. Last week, Gregory gave him an early birthday present -- a set of clippers, the case and all the attachments, he says. Describes prison 'nightmare'. How Debbie told him as he walked out the door that she wanted him home by midnight. Then she says a detective suggested the name to her. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. DNA Frees Man Jailed for 22 Years - Los Angeles Times The victim stated during Willis trial that the detective showed me some pictures, and then told me to pick the ones that didnt have a full beardshe said just pick the one who did it to you, and I said neither one of them. Instead of asking her if the attackers face was among the photos, which is the correct procedure for a lineup, they told her that her attacker was, in fact, among the photos, and instructed her to find it. As he said shortly after his exoneration, It feels wonderfulI waited a long time.. Calvin Willis Owner at CMW Nutrition Norco, CA CMW Nutrition Calvin Willis The Number One Zero Knowledge Web3 Recruiter Kirkcaldy Enterprise Digital Resources, +4 more University of Aberdeen. Gently, he lifts Latanya off the couch, takes her to the bedroom, sets her down next to her younger sister, then returns to the living room. Willis gets serious when he talks about those topics. Calvin has always been different. D.C. prosecutors have dropped charges against a D.C. police officer who was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in her District home. The cling of the new socks on his ankles startles him. Last year, a Louisiana state senator introduced a bill that would have given wrongfully convicted persons $25,000 for each year they spent in prison. Calvin was the fourth child of ten children. In 1998 she discovers the Innocence Project, cofounded by Barry Scheck and run out of the Cardozo law school in New York City, and submits an application on Calvin's behalf. "This is about Perrin Street," the detective says, "and what you did there Monday night. He tells her about the petty and arbitrary humiliations the guards mete out: the way they give Calvin thirty days in extended lockdown for "reckless eyeballing" (failing to turn and face the wall in the presence of a female guard) and another thirty for the "aggravated sex offense" of accidentally grazing a female security guard's shoulder in passing, the way they fire rifle shots a foot above his head when he crosses an imaginary "guard line" out in the fields on work detail, and the way they cuff him to the bars of his cell for six hours just for fun and Mace his eyes if he doesn't offer up his wrists the instant he's told. This is an incendiary charge, after all; why bring human uncertainty and prejudice into the equation when the caseas a matter of law, of factis so feeble? DNA testing on items from the crime scene proved that another man was the attacker and led to Willis release on September 18, 2003. Because of his conviction, he can't vote in the upcoming election. He asked her to take a seat, walked into another room, returned with a shotgun, and announced that she would be performing oral sex on him. Nor does it matter that if the testimony of Calvin's alibi witnesses is taken at face value, the scenario of Calvin as rapist _necessarily _means that he returned home at five to midnight, changed out of his beige shoes, played possum for a while next to his sleeping wife, snuck out of bed, dressed up as a cowboy, left the house, savagely raped and beat a child, returned home, hung up his cowboy paraphernalia, and crept back into bed without rousing his wife. All rights reserved. With Julia Ormond, Mahershala Ali, Lisa Arrindell, Bruce McKinnon. The boxer shorts had not been there before the crime occurred. 2023 Innocence Project. Get updates on your area delivered via e-mail. Janet knows Felde killed a policeman in a drunken rage, and he doesn't pretend that he didn't. But creditors won't lend to a single mother with an incarcerated husband. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. Calvin L Willis, age 42. Calvin Willis (1922 - 1997) Last Known Residence Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas 75501 Born August 8, 1922 Death December 31, 1997 Summary Calvin Willis of Texarkana, Bowie County, Texas was born on August 8, 1922, and died at age 75 years old on December 31, 1997. As we celebrate our fiftieth anniversary, we look back at some of the most powerful journalism the magazine has published. So much he has unlearned. Movie Tells Story Of Effort To Clear Wrongly Accused Man The man mashes a thumb into Lucretia's throat. Blood was identified on the victims panties and semen stains were found on the nightgown. In March 2003, Janet gets Calvin on the phone. The bill died in committee. Grin and say, each of them, the same three words. The sun is up. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall . For a time the only sound on the line is the recorded voice that interjects every few minutes to remind her that she is taking a collect call from a prisoner. The case had been scheduled to go before a grand jury, but it was unclear whether it had. Calvin Willis Profiles | Facebook In 1989 he files a writ of habeas corpus. Calvin Willis spent nearly 22 years in - Innocence Project - Facebook The Innocence Project is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. During the trial, Willis wife testified that he had returned that night shortly before midnight and that they had spent the whole night together. He does not know that Janet Gregory, a white woman raised to be racist and violated by two men, has been going through her dead boss's files, reading the trial transcript of a black man convicted of rape and alternately exclaiming "This is bullshit!" They are out there with the media, waiting. Scheck said that Willis case showed the importance of preserving evidence in rape cases and of permitting inmates to avail themselves of DNA testing when biological evidence is available. Forty-one percent. Calvin Willis Obituary (1948 - 2020) | Houston, Texas - Echovita 17 YEARS IN PRISON - EXONERATED Singer, Songwriter and a voice to this generation. He didn't do this.'". There is no question that Calvin is an innocent man, said attorney Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project at New Yorks Cardozo Law School. Calvin is given leave from prison to attend the funeral. Dr. Calvin Johnson Willis of Halifax, VA passed away January 4, 2021. But in the end, it was money well spent -- the DNA results showed that the DNA found at the scene did not belong to Willis. His old friends, who remember him as the most physically assertive and expressive of men, never know what to say when Calvin goes stiff and silent in their embraces. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Judge Paul Lynch asks. Although police said one of the girls identified Willis as her attacker, the girl later said she never saw Willis photo and she did not identify him in court. ), he has learned that a man's grasp on time is like his good health something taken for granted until it dissolves. About a quarter of it was her own money, she says. In a way, it feels like his own. When the spread is ready, she hands him a plate and says, "You start!" Calvin Willis Justice legal innocence project Janet ''Prissy''Gregory, a paralegal took on the legal system for Calvin Willis, an African-American husband and father wrongfully accused of raping a neighborhood girl. In 2004, Andrew Corsello gave us this story of Calvin Willis, a man who spent twenty-two years in prison for a rape he did not commit. "Why he make Daddy cry? Calvin Willis On September 18, 2003, Calvin Willis was released from prison after serving more than 21 years for a crime he did not commit. George Calvin Willis (1912-1996) - Find a Grave Memorial Debbie had a terrible night last night. Did she know he could feel the low little hum in his sternum? Calvin wrote a thank-you letter to everyone, whether it was $5 or $50., Meanwhile, Gregory said, I kept going down to the clerks office at the local courthouse to make sure we had our evidence intact.. Two blocks from home he slams on the brakes. Evidence was located and the nightgown, rape kit (including fingernail scrapings), and boxer shorts were submitted to Forensic Science Associates for testing. For years my mind went blank. My pastor hasn't even talked to me about it. The visits are never enough, of course. Willis approached her and told her she shouldn't be out late and that he could arrest her. I got no one of my own people I can talk to. Police detectives beat confession out of him. Lucretia's testimony gets stranger still. In years to come, after she secures a protective order and a divorce, people will ask about her ex, and Janet will say, "The one constant anger in my life is my son's father. Late Tuesday, prosecutors dropped the charges. Thank you for visiting us. Often they're gone all night, sometimes for days at a time. He doesn't answer. Calvin Willis Jeff Justice & CO Realtors 5.0 4 Reviews 7 sales in the last 12 months About me Real Estate Professional, Realtor Specialties Buyer's agent Listing agent Relocation Foreclosure Property Management Landlord I am extremely passionate about Real Estate! He keeps the hat on. George Calvin Willis. Bright will take a part-time job at SUSLA. When Rev Clifford Calvin Willis was born on 25 April 1931, in North Carolina, United States, his father, Garland Columbus Willis, was 19 and his mother, Rhetta Eliza Lowe, was 16. 60+ "Calvin Willis" profiles | LinkedIn A man who knows how to dance fast and dance slow, how to tell a story, how to make his friends feel they're at the center of things, afloat with him in his bubble of youth even as they're stuck in Shreveport, Louisiana, an industrial smear near the Texas border. Calvin Willis - ATLANTA, GA Real Estate Agent | realtor.com ", For her part, Gregory never thought that Willis was guilty. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone. Calvin Willis - Builder | Encourager | Thought Leader Yes, Calvin has always enjoyed being Calvin. Areas Served Atlanta Austell Carrollton Clarkdale Douglasville Fairburn Lithia Springs Mableton Marietta Powder Springs Riverdale Smyrna Union City. "Somethin' different today!" Calvin Willis served more than 21 years in Louisiana prisons for a child rape he didn't commit before DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project proved his innocence and led to his exoneration. The attacker choked her and banged her head against the wall. Direct: 404-319-6303. He tells her about performing biceps curls with law booksthe only way they prove useful. And it is only in prayer that the voice comes to him, full of mystery and hope. Later, in the hours before sunrise, her mind went elsewhere. He knows now that he can never be repressed, only murdered. Momma Newton and Kesha and Calvin Jr., whom he hasn't seen in almost ten years. One on May 14, dubbed Community Unity Fair, will focus on food and clothing drives. Please enable scripts and reload this page. John Stoll: convicted of multiple child molestation counts. "It was just one big 'Whoa! Now, as he sits in bed next to his sleeping wifea giddy feeling. During their argument, the woman grabbed a knife, and Willis placed his hand on his gun, according to court records. He was born January 7, 1926 in Mauckport, IN to William A. and Mildred R. (Richard) Willis. Calvin Willis - Sales & Marketing Director - Forklift Hire - LinkedIn The victim also stated during her testimony that when she was unable to pick a face from the lineup, the name Calvin was then suggested to her, but she was still unable to pick a photo. Public viewing: Wednesday 12 noon-5pm. Debbie, it turns out, did not need his signature on the divorce decree just to buy the house. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. What happened? When they go, Lucretia babysits Katina and Latanya, though Lucretia herself is just a child. Wed just like this to go quietly away, Martin said. View Details. Youth Network Initiative targets teens at risk of dropping out, young adults who dropped out of school and young adults with a high school diploma who could benefit from career training. But signing it has left Calvin with a sick feeling. At another site, five older teens studying for the GED also are planning two community service projects. Nothing he wears is ever an afterthought. At the time, authorities alleged that he slammed his 25-year-old girlfriend into a wall, pulled her hair. The victim participated in a lineup procedure, which had serious flaws common to wrongful convictions where eyewitness misidentification was a contributing factor. The mothers come and go at weird hours. It requires psychic sustenance: the faith and love of family and of the extended community back in Shreveport. One of them was Calvins. Help us advocate for the innocent by sharing cases from the Innocence Project. On February 2, 1982, Judge Lynch finds Calvin Willis guilty of raping a child. * It's a dim, grimy room, littered with beer cans and lit by a single red bulb propped in the front window. But on the evening of September 18, 2003, a journalist tells Janet that Calvin is being put on a bus at five the next morning to the Caddo Correctional Center, where he will be released. After cleaning moss from the engine's propeller, he steps up to the deck, says, "Let's go!" Like 41 percent of black people. They do not apologize. Nor do they offer any guesses as to when he might be released. My children are beautiful. Like Wayne, he has demanded her love but alsobecause the object _has _been to free himevery ounce of her intellectual fortitude. You know that, right? The 10-year-old victim awoke and saw a man standing above her, naked except for a cowboy hat. Pastor and volunteers open food bank in East Preston When I left that office, there were two cases I could not leave behind. "Let me lay it out for you.". Then slowly, serenely, with eyes wide open, ever careful of her curved belly, he makes love to his wife. The testimony of Lucretia's mother, Barbara, is typical: She starts by saying she'd never heard the name Willis before talking to the detectives. Harry. He has no money, and no hope -- at this point -- of getting any from the state. Now she's moving toward Calvin, limping, crying, backing his guards off with a ferocious glare, then hugging his neck and saying _Calvin, oh Calvin. When a proper period of time had passed, Prissy agreed, at the prodding of friends, to date a man named Daryl. With Willis' case files stowed in a closet in her house, she tried legal avenue after legal avenue -- with no luck. Recent Active and Sold Listings . According to court documents obtained by News4, Willis and his girlfriend met 10 years ago while Willis, 42 at the time, was on assignment as a patrol officer. He feels _larger _than himself, as if his spirit has grown beyond the boundaries of his body. He tells her that he knows it's been hard for her. We welcome new information from any source about exonerations already on our list and about cases not in the Registry that might be exonerations. This is the thing about Janet. So Calvin decided to take the enormous energy of his youth and his manhood, his spirit, and pour it into their life together. Photo Request successfully deleted. Willis was excluded from being a contributor to any of the samples. And he tells her that even though the thought of her with another man feels to him like a form of death, he knows that it must happen. Owner: willis calvin m & denise Total Market Value: $197,754 Sale Price: $270,000 +Edit Past Address 1431 Cresta Rd, CORONA, CA 92879-1148 View Address Year Built: 1987 Bedrooms: 3 Baths: 2.50 Garage Size: 2 Property Lot Size: 6098 SF Building Area: 1607 Owner: willis calvin m Owner 2: WILLIS DENISE Sale Price: $260,000 +Edit Current Address Shucks his boots. Black people don't stick together, Momma! What did she mean by it? There is power in that. Gregory left the funeral with renewed vigor. "They were about 5 and 8 at the time," Gregory estimates, "and I told them, 'You are going to hear some awful things about your daddy, but they are not true.' He was also considerably smaller than the attacker described to police by the girls. Then there is Lucretia. There's an edge of fear now. 5 Bd. Yet once he's done with Jesus, he finds he can't stop talking. You have the chance to redeem yourself.". The U.S. attorneys office has determined there is insufficient evidence to go forward at this time and has now dismissed the case, spokesman William Miller said. Eventually, Scheck and Baton Rouge attorney Jim Boren asked the district attorneys office to permit DNA testing, setting in motion the events that led to Willis release. Calvin, a man who has been forced to spend half his life letting other souls carry and act upon his most fathomless passions, then watches as Briana turns to face her mother. ArkLaTex In-Depth: Calvin Willis revisit | News | ktbs.com The Registry also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations prior to 1989. "Are you trying to take me for a fool?". Willis, however, was excluded as the contributor of various hairs recovered from the bedspread. Freed by Innocence Project, 20 YEARS - VICTIMS LIED What she did for Wayne was a form of palliative care; she was never going to save him. In practical terms, as an exonerated man in the state of Louisiana, he gets nothing. They would see each other only two more times before his release. A group of local musicians throws a benefit; Janet has been sending her own money, along with the donations she's drummed up, to the Innocence Project to pay for Calvin's testing, and doesn't have enough to bury her husband. Eventually convinced of his innocence, Janet takes Calvin's pro bono case . They do not congratulate. But as the years pass, he comes to see that there is a difference between what he can _remember _about their relationship and the relationship itselfthat the great moments of their life, though marvelous, are unconnected dots, and that what actually holds a man and a woman together are millions of tiny, unremarkable moments that cannot be individually seen or collectively explained. Calvin W Smith Construction Corp, 17240 Sw, St Homestead, FL (Employee: Smith Calvin Willis) holds a Certified General Contractor license and 6 other licenses according to the Florida license board.