A fed­er­al judge has thrown out Ernest Ray Willis’ cap­i­tal con­vic­tion after find­ing ​“strong rea­son to be con­cerned that Willis may be actu­al­ly inno­cent” and that West Texas author­i­ties need­less­ly drugged him and con­cealed evi­dence at his tri­al. The deci­sion casts doubt on Willis’ 1987 con­vic­tion for the arson-mur­der of two women in Pecos County, a crime that anoth­er death row inmate, David Long, lat­er con­fessed he had com­mit­ted. In his rul­ing, U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson said that anti-psy­chot­ic med­ica­tion used incor­rect­ly by prison guards to treat Willis’ chron­ic back pain ham­pered his abil­i­ty to defend him­self, and that his defense attor­neys did not ade­quate­ly rep­re­sent him dur­ing the pro­ceed­ings. Furgeson also not­ed that dur­ing Willis’ tri­al, pros­e­cu­tors sup­pressed a psy­chol­o­gist’s report reveal­ing that Willis was not dan­ger­ous, a key issue in death penal­ty cas­es. Furgeson stat­ed that Texas’ high­est crim­i­nal court erred when it dis­missed these seri­ous con­cerns and then he reit­er­at­ed con­cerns raised by a state tri­al judge who four years ago ruled that Willis nev­er received a fair tri­al. Willis remains on death row in Texas while state pros­e­cu­tors decide whether to appeal the rul­ing, seek a new tri­al, or set him free. Officials have until November 18th to make their deci­sion about how to pro­ceed with the case. (San Antonio Express-News, July 27, 2004) See Innocence. See also Representation.

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