and threatened by Mr. McMillian when he went into the cleaners. The mysterious third person, who is circumstantially presumed to be in charge, allegedly instructed McMillian to ‘get rid of Myers,’ which Mr. McMillian said he couldn’t do because he was out of bullets. The white man in charge has never been identified or arrested by the state. The State has not been looking for a third person, a ringleader for this crime, because I think they recognize that this person doesn’t exist.”
I paused again to let the meaning of this sink in. “Based on the testimony of Ralph Myers, Walter McMillian was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. As you’re about to hear, the testimony of Ralph Myers was completely false. Again, Your Honor, the testimony of Ralph Myers at trial was completely false.”
I took a moment before turning to the bailiff to call Myers to the stand. The courtroom was silent until the deputy opened the door to the holding area and Ralph Myers walked into the courtroom. There was an audible reaction to his presence. Ralph had aged visibly since the last time many of the people in the courtroom had seen him; I could hear murmurs about how his hair had grayed. Dressed in his prison whites, Myers once again appeared small and sad to me as he climbed up onto the witness stand. He looked around the courtroom nervously before raising his hand and swearing an oath to tell the truth. I waited until the courtroom became quiet. Judge Norton was looking at Myers attentively.
I walked over to begin my examination. After asking him to state his name for the record and establishing that he had previously appeared in court and testified against Walter McMillian, it was time to get to the heart of things.
I walked closer to the witness stand.
“Mr. Myers, was the testimony that you gave at Mr. McMillian’s trial true?” I was hoping that the judge couldn’t see I was holding my breath waiting for Ralph to answer. Ralph looked at me coolly but then spoke very clearly and confidently.
“Not at all.” There was more murmuring in the courtroom now, but the crowd quickly quieted to hear more.
“Not at all,” I repeated before continuing. I wanted Ralph’s recantation to sink in, but I didn’t want to hesitate too long because we needed a lot more.
“Did you see Mr. McMillian on the day that Ronda Morrison was murdered?”
“Absolutely not.” Ralph looked steady as he spoke.
“Did you drive his truck into Monroeville on that day?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did you go into Jackson Cleaners when Ronda Morrison was murdered?”
“No. Never did.”
I didn’t want the court to think that Ralph was robotically denying everything I asked him, so I asked a question that required an affirmative answer. “Now, at Mr. McMillian’s trial, did you give some testimony that there was a white man inside the cleaners when you went inside?”
“Yes, I did.”
I had gone as long as I dared asking Ralph yes/no questions. “What was that testimony, please?”
“As I can recall, the testimony was that I had overheard Walter McMillian saying something to this guy, and I had also recalled saying that I had seen the back part of his head, but that’s just about all I can recall on that.”
“Was that testimony true, Mr. Myers?”
“No, it wasn’t.” Now the judge leaned in to listen with rapt attention.
“Were any of the allegations you made against Walter McMillian as being involved in the Ronda Morrison murder true?”
Ralph paused and looked around the courtroom before he answered. For the first time there was emotion in his voice, regret or remorse.
“No.”
It seemed that everyone in the courtroom had been holding their breath but now there was an audible buzz from many of Walter’s supporters.
I had a copy of the trial transcript and took Ralph through every sentence of his testimony against Walter. Statement by statement he acknowledged that his previous testimony was entirely false. Myers was direct and persuasive. He would frequently turn his head to look Judge Norton directly in the eye as he spoke. When I made him repeat the parts of his testimony about being coerced to testify falsely, Ralph remained calm and conveyed absolute sincerity. Even during the lengthy cross-examination by Chapman, Myers was unwavering. After relentless questioning about why he was changing his testimony and Chapman’s suggestion that someone was putting him up to this, Ralph became indignant. He looked at the prosecutor and said:
Me, I can simply look in your face and anybody