I mean I doubt the judge or governor or whoever watched the movie and said "Oops" and let him go.
Did the lawyers appeal on the basis of new evidence? And they used the audio tape of David admitting he lied (played at the end of the movie) and that was enough?
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You've got to be kidding!
First of all, witnesses WERE paid for their testimony. One woman was fired from her job till tapping and was arrested for a domestic dispute involving a knife fight. For her testimony, all charges against here were dropped.
Did you listen to David Harris' last inverview? Did you notice that as Harris' was recalling the murder he moved his hand as if to adjust a rearview mirror? Why would he do this if he was in the passenger's seat?
What possible motive would Adams have for the murder?
There was plenty of evidence that the witnesses had lied. One witness claimed to have a photographic memory, but couldn't remember if the police car was ahead or behind of the pulled over comet.
If you're innocent, it wouldn't be unusual to be self-righteous.
The prosecuting attorney told Edith, the female defense, "what do you care, he's just a drifter anyhow."
And this, just takes the cake The cop that had arrested Harris for multiple previous offenses and for the offense that he was ultimately executed for was the best proof that Harris wasn't the shooter in this murder. He specifically said Harris had been admitting to crimes his whole career, that it took little for them to push him into confession. Even the crime he was executed for...he admitted that after a time and even tried to blame Mays for his own death..."he shouldn't have come after me". - the officer believed Harris was guilty.
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Let's see...David Harris was known to have used that same gun in a robbery and the car was stolen by him. Yet, somehow, he just happens to find a guy who is out of gas who has the exact same killer instinct that he has but has somehow managed to get away with every crime he had ever done, seeing how Adams had no criminal record.
As for David Harris never confessing--I think it's pretty clear that he did and even if he didn't, he said that the only reason Randall Adams got involved was because he gave the police his name and he guessed the police believed him. Why didn't own up to the murder? According to one of the interviews, he said he was 16 and didn't like the prospect of being put into jail possibly for life. He said he was a "young, dumb kid". Seeing how it was the car he stole, and he admits Adams didn't do it, then wouldn't it make sense that Harris did it? The crime fits Harris more so than Adams in every way, shape, or form.
You've got to either be a relative of that sick son of a bitch or have some part in the prosecution of Adams, Right? If not then you just might be the dumbest A-hole on the face of the planet. No rational person can look at the abundance of evidence against Harris and circumstantial evidence on Adams and draw any kind of conclusion like you have. Seriously, your arguments are moronic and I'd be willing to bet you have a mental disorder. I wish I knew more words for stupid, because you deserve all of them.
shareha. bravo, very well trolled.
shareMotive doesn't have to be proven, but even if it did I would think his motive would be the same as Harris'...don't want to get caught.
Didn't want to get caught for what? Adams hadn't done anything.
there's no reason to assume Harris would have acted any differently with this murder as opposed to any other crime, including the Mays murder, he'd committed.
Harris gave the reason in one of his interviews- to get back at Adams for not letting him stay for the night, after Harris had helped Adams out.
he wasn't retried because THE STATE chose not to
And why would they chose not to, if they still believed he was guilty? Texas has never given a damn what the rest of the country thinks.
----- Made you look! -----
"1)Adams was too self-righteous, like I said. He was not convincing in his complete innocence given that he lied more than once about his movements that night and his whereabouts at the time of the murders."
Let's file that under "character assassination," shall we . . . speaking of which . . .
"2)The rebuttal witnesses to the trial witnesses indulged in behavior just short of character assassination. There was NO PROOF any of those witnesses lied, were asked to lie or were forced to lie. At least one of his interviewees came off as a racist snob."
True, and yes that lady did come off as a racist snob, but the kernel of the matter is that the facts surrounding why the couple came forward with their eyewitness account was rather suspicious. Of course this doesn't prove anything, mind you, but there's that seed of doubt as to their veracity. And of course there's the question, why did they wait so long before coming forward (at least a month)? Again, this doesn't prove anything, but it does cast some suspicion. This doesn't mean that their testimony should be thrown out; it just means that it should be questioned, at least, and not taken as absolute truth.
"3)David Harris did not confess to anyone except the limited time when he confessed to his friends....and half of those included the word 'we'. The only thing he said during the movie was that he would (and presumably did) know who killed the cop....which merely means he was there, doesn't conclude he is the murderer. HE ALWAYS SAID HE WAS THERE!!! Morris, of course, says Harris nodded when he asked Harris if he'd killed the cop, but Harris was conveniently off camera at the time so we have only Morris' word."
From http://www.txexecutions.org/reports/323.asp
"Harris testified, recanting his earlier accusations of Adams. 'Randall Adams knew nothing about this offense and was not in the car at the time,' Harris testified."
So either his previous testimony is a lie or this testimony is a lie.
"4)The cop that had arrested Harris for multiple previous offenses and for the offense that he was ultimately executed for was the best proof that Harris wasn't the shooter in this murder. He specifically said Harris had been admitting to crimes his whole career, that it took little for them to push him into confession. Even the crime he was executed for...he admitted that after a time and even tried to blame Mays for his own death...'he shouldn't have come after me'."
Interesting point. But this really doesn't prove or disprove Adams' culpability in the crime. It does means that either Harris lied about this one crime and only this one crime for some reason known only to himself or that someone other than Adams or Harris was the murderer and he knows who it is.
"5)Harris was never charged for the murder...kind of weird when everyone says he confessed! Of course, he didn't confess and there is less evidence he shot the cop than Adams did."
Actually, he didn't really confess to being the murderer. He just confessed to lying about Adams being the murderer. (See above.)
Update:
From http://w3.tvi.cc.nm.us/cr/lt/su97/bookreport/john.html
"On appeal, the conviction was overturned when David Harris admitted to the murder of Officer Robert Wood 24 hours before he was executed for other crimes."
So that's another reason why he wasn't charged for murder. It would have been pointless to charge and convict him the day before his execution.
Two points.
Harris admits that he lied and gave up Adams name just because he was a scared kid... nothing more complicated than that.
Harris also admits that perhaps the only reason Adams became involved in this was because he failed to help out a guy (Harris) who had helped him out when he ran out of gas. Harris was mad at Adams just because he wouldn't let him crash out in the hotel room for the night.
After having just watched this documentary for the first time, I have to ask...did anybodyelse hear Harris talk in his interview (filmed) about how he drove off at top speed because he was a dumb kid who was scared?
One other question - How could he have driven off if he was the passenger? Just another odd thing in a long list of discrepancies from that guy and other witnesses. As a previous poster has said, he confessed the day before his execution, but all the evidence before this 'real' confession pointed towards him anyway.
The dumb poster whois suggesting Harris never confessed clearly didn't listen to the taped confession properly, or even take in any of the issues given to us on the film. Sure, documentary is subjective, but it is perfectly clear that there is no way Harris was innocent.
'Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today' James dean.
I'd be worried about my own mental health if I was sticking up for someone who is clearly a sociopath with various violent crimes under their belt. Especially over someone who has no history of violence and was blatantly chosen by Harris, as he heavily implies, to spare himself. Adams was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if you don't think that's a confession in the end sequence then you're insane. Harris recalled his prior accusations and Adams was freed. Do you not think those are the guilty actions of a dangerous man? Or are you that blonde skank's kid or something?
shareSo is anyone going to answer the TS's question? Did the government just watch the documentary.. go oops and let him go? It doesn't seem like the system works that way so how did he get free'd?
shareWikipedia:
Aftermath:
Morris' investigation demonstrated that five witnesses had committed perjury. As a result of publicity around the film, Adams (whose death sentence had been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 and commuted to life in prison) had his conviction overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the case returned to Dallas County for a retrial. The district attorney's office declined to prosecute the case again and Adams was subsequently ordered released as a result of a habeas corpus hearing in 1989.
Harris had testified in the original trial that he was the passenger in the stolen car that he allowed Adams to drive and that Adams committed the murder. He recanted this testimony at Adams' habeas corpus hearing, but never admitted guilt in a judicial setting and was never charged in the case. In 2004, Harris was executed by lethal injection for the unrelated 1985 murder of Mark Mays in Beaumont, Texas, which occurred during an attempted abduction of Mays' girlfriend.
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Wait a minute... who am I here?