Eastern Louisiana
Victims of the State

23 Cases

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Robert H. Blanton III was convicted of the murder of Eugene S. Stevens and sentenced to life imprisonment. Stevens' ex-wife, Glenda Hodgeson Stevens, had custody of his son and both she and her mother, Mavis Hodgeson, had been denying him his court ordered visitation rights. Glenda and Mavis were ordered to show cause on Mar. 1, 1972 why they should not be held in contempt for violating Stevens' rights. Mavis, then, hired three men to “soften up” Stevens and these men shot him to death on Feb. 21, 1972. Blanton was allegedly one of these men.

At trial various witnesses testified to Blanton's involvement in the killing. Another man was said to have shot Stevens, but Blanton allegedly fired a shot at the victim and missed. Blanton's defense called several witnesses who testified he was in Alabama at the time of the killing. His defense also tried to undermine the credibility of the state’s witnesses by attempting to show that they were offered plea deals which were generous enough to motivate them to testify falsely. However, under cross-examination, the witnesses testified they had no deals or gave misleading information about them.

On appeal in 1980, a federal court reversed Blanton's conviction because “Blanton was deprived of due process when the state failed to fully disclose all of the agreements and understandings it had with key government witnesses and failed to correct testimony which it knew or should have known was false.” The court stated that the trial jury would have given more credence to the testimony of Blanton's alibi witnesses had it known of these agreements. Following the reversal, the prosecution dropped charges against Blanton.  (1975 Appeal) (1980 Appeal)  [12/10]

Gene Bibbins was convicted of raping 13-year-old Kenya Canty. The victim initially described her assailant as wearing jeans and having long curly hair. Bibbins was arrested less than an hour after the attack. He was wearing gray shorts and had short, cropped hair. The victim was assaulted in her apartment and the assailant took her radio when he left. Bibbins was in possession of the radio, and said he found it as he exited his apartment building. He lived in a different building than the victim but it was in the same apartment complex. DNA tests exonerated Bibbins in 2003. In 2006, Bibbins became the first person in Louisiana to be awarded state compensation for wrongful imprisonment. He was awarded $150,000. However, as of this writing, there is no money in the compensation fund to pay him.  (IP) (Justice: Denied) (Bibbins v. City)  [10/05]

Kevin Williams was convicted of the armed robbery of a 7-Eleven convenience store. Two 18 to 20-year-old black males robbed the store of $15 at about 10:54 p.m. One held a gun while the other took money from the cash register. The cashier called police and her call was logged in at 10:56 p.m. Two teenagers had seen the robbers flee in a brown car. At 11:06 p.m., police stopped Williams and his friend Ernest Brown about 1 1/2 miles from the crime scene. They were driving a brown car of similar description as that of the robbers. The cashier identified the 28-year-old Williams as being the unarmed robber. She cleared Brown of involvement. Neither man had any money or gun on them, but police found two six-packs of Pepsi in the car.
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Douglas A. DiLosa was convicted of the murder of his wife, Glinda. When police arrived at DiLosa's condominium following a 911 call from his son, they found DiLosa tied up on the living room floor. His wife was found bound and strangled on a bed. DiLosa said he was awakened about 3:30 a.m. to noises downstairs. When he investigated, he discovered two black male intruders. The intruders him beat him unconscious. When he recovered from his unconsciousness, he found himself bound and the house in shambles. He called out to his son and instructed him to dial 911. The crime occurred at Apartment 7-C, Chardonnay Village Condominiums, 1500 West Esplanade Ave. in Kenner, LA.

In time, DiLosa was arrested for Glinda's murder based on an alleged lack of evidence supporting his version of events. Investigators also discovered a possible motive. DiLosa was out of work, his unemployment benefits were about to run out, a large payment was near due on the condo, and his wife's life was insured for a substantial sum. At trial the prosecution focused on the lack of evidence that any other perpetrator besides DiLosa committed the crime. During his closing argument, the prosecutor told the jury, “There was not one, not one shred of black hair found in that residence.” And he also stated, “Did you hear any evidence about any other houses that were hit that night?”

However, there was evidence supporting DiLosa's version of events, but it was withheld from the defense: (1) Hair of a non-Caucasian type was found on the rope around Glinda's neck and on the bed where her body was discovered. (2) Fingerprints were found in the condo that could not be positively identified. (3) An attempted break-in occurred at a nearby condo. (4) A taxi driver had seen a car occupied by two black men exit the condo complex at 5:45 a.m. The taxi driver said the car's driver looked “tense,” faced straight ahead while gripping the steering wheel, and was driving very slowly.

In 2002, the federal 5th Circuit Court overturned DiLosa's conviction due to the withholding of evidence. It is not known if DiLosa was retried, but a reference source lists DiLosa as having been exonerated in 2003.  (88) (95) (02) (04)  [10/08]

Willie Jackson was convicted of rape and robbery after being identified by the victim. In addition, a forensic odontologist testified at trial that the bite marks on the victim matched Willie. Just days after Willie's conviction, his brother Milton confessed to the crime. At least three pieces of evidence implicated Milton, but the victim still identified Willie. In 2006, Willie was freed after DNA tests showed that Milton was the rapist. Milton is serving a life sentence for an unrelated 1998 rape.  (IP)  [12/06]

Ryan Matthews was sentenced to death for murdering Tommy Vanhoose, a grocer, at Comeaux's Grocery in Bridge City. Travis Hayes was thought to be Matthews' getaway driver. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Under police interrogation, Hayes had confessed to a scenario presented him by police in which he drove Matthews to the store in Bridge City. Both defendants were 17 and lived more than 10 miles from Bridge City. Even by the time they were tried there were significant problems with Hayes confession: (1) DNA tests on the ski mask worn by the gunman and discarded at the scene of the crime produced a profile that matched neither Matthews nor Hayes. (2) In fleeing the crime, the gunman jumped headfirst into the side window of the getaway car. Although Hayes had a car similar to the getaway car, numerous witnesses testified the side window was broken and could not be opened. (3) Witnesses described the gunman as 5'4" to 5'7" in height. Matthews was 6'1" tall. Matthews was released in 2004. Hayes spent another 2 1/2 years in prison, but he was released in Dec. 2006.  (IP1) (IP2) (IPNO)

Edgar Labat and Clifton Alton Poret, both blacks, were convicted of raping a white female and each was sentenced to death. The two men smuggled an appeal out of death row that was published as an ad in the Los Angeles Times. A woman reader of the ad was moved to hire attorneys for the men. These lawyers obtained a stay of execution only three hours before it was to be carried out. The men's convictions were eventually reversed when it was shown that a witness named Earl Howard testified falsely under police pressure.  (Time) (54) (55) (58) (64) (66)  [10/05]

Johnny Ross, a 16-year-old black juvenile, was convicted at a three hour trial and sentenced to death for the rape of a white woman. The trial consisted of the prosecution's claim that Ross had signed a confession after the victim had identified him. Ross maintained that he had signed a blank piece of paper after his interrogators beat him. On appeal, his death sentence was commuted to a term of years. Years later tests revealed that the rapist's semen did not match Ross's blood type. Based on this new evidence, the New Orleans DA agreed to drop charges and Ross was released from prison in 1981.  (DPIC)  [7/05]

Gregory Bright and Earl Truvia were convicted of murdering 15-year-old Elliot Porter. The convictions were based solely on the testimony of a witness, Sheila Caston, who claimed that she had seen the pair dragging the victim around the corner of a building in the housing project where they all lived. The jury never heard from the coroner, who would have testified that the time of death did not coincide with the time that the Caston claimed she saw the victim. Nor did the jury know that Caston was a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from auditory and visual hallucinations and had several aliases, one of which she used at trial. Caston medicated her mental illness with heroin and gave police information in exchange for cash. The pair's convictions were overturned in 2002 because of Caston, and also because the state had withheld a police report describing alternate suspects. Charges against Bright and Truvia were dropped and they were released in 2003.  (Ford) (IPNO1) (IPNO2) (TruthInJustice)  [10/05]

James Bunch was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for one count of murder. Bunch asserts he acted in self-defense.  (IIPPI)

Curtis Kyles was sentenced to death for murdering Dolores Dye during a car theft in the parking lot of a Schwegmann's Giant Supermarket. A man named Joseph “Beanie” Wallace claimed that he purchased Dye's stolen car from Kyles after he was found driving around in it. Several witnesses also testified that they saw Kyles at the crime scene. The defense called this testimony into question and the jury in Kyles' first trial was hung. Upon retrial, Kyles was convicted, but this conviction was ultimately reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that the prosecution had hidden exculpatory evidence about changes in the witnesses' accounts and about the corruption of the investigation. Had this material been disclosed to the defense, it would validate Kyles' claim that Wallace and the New Orleans authorities were framing him. The case was remanded for a third trial, which ended in a hung jury, as did fourth and fifth trials. The DA then conceded defeat and Kyles was freed in 1998. The case is profiled in the book, Desire Street by Jed Horne (2005)  (TWM)  [7/05]

John Thompson, who had no history of violence, was charged with the robbery and murder of 34-year-old Ray Liuzza, Jr., a hotel executive. In 1985, the day after his picture was in the newspaper and on the evening news, three victims of an attempted carjacking came forward and stated Thompson was the perpetrator. Even though the attempted carjacking occurred after the murder, Thompson was convicted of the attempted robbery prior to his murder trial. Thompson was then convicted of murder and sentenced to death in part because of the prior conviction. The prior conviction prevented him from testifying on his own behalf.

In 1999, intentionally hidden blood evidence from the attempted carjacking incident surfaced that showed the perpetrator had a different blood type than Thompson. That conviction was overturned and led to his murder conviction being overturned. At the murder retrial, the defense tracked down an eyewitness who had fled the area out of fear for her life a month after the murder. She testified in the defense's favor and Thompson was acquitted.  (Times-Picayune)  [9/05]

Shareef Cousin was convicted of the murder of Michael Gerardi. To get reduced time on unrelated charges, former friend James Roswell fingered Cousin as the murderer, but later recanted. An eyewitness, who initially said she doubted she could identify the killer, but did say that he was shorter than the victim, said at trial she was 100% certain it was Cousin despite the fact that Cousin is 4 inches taller. Cousin had a taped statement given by his basketball coach establishing his alibi, but the prosecution altered the time given on the tape. Three teammates who waited outside the courtroom to testify were not available when the defense attorney went to call them. The defense found out too late that prosecutors had relocated the boys to the DA's air-conditioned office, supposedly to give them relief from the hot weather. After the murder conviction was overturned and charges were dropped, Cousin remained imprisoned because of a plea bargain he made on minor charges at a time when he felt his future was hopeless.  (Justice: Denied)  [6/05]

Daniel L. Bright III was convicted of the robbery and murder of Murray Barnes. The crime occurred on Super Bowl Sunday outside Creola's bar at 2904 Laussat Street. Barnes had just collected $1,000 in the bar's Super Bowl pool. Bright was sentenced to death. The only evidence that served to convict him was the testimony of Freddie Thompson. Bright's conviction was overturned after it was noted that Thompson was very drunk on the day of the crime and that the prosecution failed to disclose that Thompson was a convicted felon and in violation of his parole. The prosecution dropped all charges against Bright in 2004.  (IPNO)  [3/06]

Dwight Labran was convicted of murdering Martin Hubbard. The conviction was due to a sole eyewitness who had serious credibility problems. The eyewitness, Kevin Watson, aka Kevin Ellis, was Hubbard's cousin. Watson was the owner of the car in which the victim's body was found and had outstanding warrants for firearms and drug offenses. By giving a false name and naming Labran as the killer, he not only avoided becoming a suspect, but also avoided being arrested on his own outstanding warrants. None of this evidence was presented at trial. Labran's conviction was later reversed because of eyewitness perjury and he was released in 2001.  (IPNO)

After a storm at sea, a shrimp boat named “The Bandit,” containing Alvin Latham and the ship's captain, Raymond Leiker, failed to return to its home port of Venice, LA. Latham was picked up at sea 14 hours later holding onto a piece of wood. He said the storm came up suddenly and that while trying to pull fish into the boat, Leiker's foot got caught in a fishing net. Latham tried to help Leiker free his foot, but eventually Leiker told him to save himself. Moments after Latham swam away from the boat, the boat submerged into the sea.
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Mary Kathryn Hampton was convicted of the murders of Benjamin Yount and Hermine Fielder. Hampton was 16 in 1958 when she met a much older Emmitt Monroe Spencer in Kentucky. Spencer did not tell her that he had just finished serving a 12-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter. Hampton became Spencer's sweetheart and traveling companion, and eventually the mother of his son. On April 14, 1960, Spencer, Hampton, and hitchhiker were stopped by a Florida highway patrol officer. The officer became suspicious of Spencer and ordered the three out of the car. After the three were out, Spencer went back to the car, grabbed a gun, and shot and wounded the officer. He then took off in the car, but after a chase, he was apprehended 30 miles away.
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Gerald Burge was convicted of the murder of Douglas Frierson. Frierson had been shot to death and his body was found abandoned beneath a bridge at 4:13 a.m. on Oct. 17, 1980. It appeared that he had been killed only an hour or so beforehand.  Frierson's mother, Jean Frierson, initially told Detective Gary Hale of the Sheriff's office that at midnight on the night of the murder, Douglas came to her home in Picayune, Mississippi, where she served him a meal of pancakes. She told Hale that after he had finished eating, Douglas was picked up at her house by someone in a car, but that she saw neither the vehicle nor the person or persons who came to pick up her son. Two early suspects in the murder were Burge and another man, Joe Pearson. Detective Hale's supervisor, Lt. E. L. Hermann, Jr., questioned Burge about the murder, and then gave Hale a tape recording of the questioning. Pearson's girlfriend, Jo Ella Prestwood, initially told Hale that Pearson was with her on the night of the murder. However, about six months later she told him that Pearson admitted to her that he had murdered Douglas Frierson.

After Burge and Pearson were arrested for the murder, Pearson agreed to testify against Burge in exchange for a reduced charge of being an accessory after the fact. At Burge's 1986 trial, Pearson testified that he witnessed Burge fatally shoot Frierson. Frierson's mother, Jean Frierson, testified that she saw her son leave with Gerald Burge on the night of the murder. Since Burge's defense was not given any information to impeach Pearson's testimony or that of the victim's mother, Burge was convicted.

Immediately after Burge's conviction when Lt. Hermann and Hale were leaving the courthouse, Hermann asked Hale why Burge's defense did not have a copy of the tape that he had given Hale after he, Hermann, had questioned Burge. Hale subsequently showed Hermann certain documents relating to the murder investigation that Hale had stored in the trunk of his car, including certain original documents that Hermann believed should have been delivered to the District Attorney's Office. When Hermann asked Hale why the documents were in his car, Hale reportedly replied, “If I would have turned this in, it would have caused us to lose – it could have caused us to lose the case.”

In 1990, after evidence of Jean Frierson's original statement came to light, Burge was granted a retrial on the grounds that Jean Frierson's initial statement was exculpatory evidence that should have been produced for the defense under Brady v. Maryland. When Burge was tried a second time for Douglas Frierson's murder in 1992, he was acquitted of all charges.  (Burge v. Parish 2003) (Burge v. Parish 1999) (IPNO)  [7/10]

In Sept. 1984, a woman was raped in Covington, LA. Dennis Brown was not even a suspect in the rape, but he had unwisely volunteered to serve as a filler in a police lineup. The victim had only seen the eyes of her masked assailant, but she identified Brown in the lineup and at trial. On the basis of this identification, Brown was prosecuted and convicted. He served 19 years of a life sentence before DNA tests exonerated him in 2004.  (IP) (IPNO)

Clyde Charles was convicted of rape. Clyde and his brother Marlo Charles had been out drinking together at a bar. The brothers then went their separate ways hitchhiking. The victim, a 26-year-old, was subsequently raped after her car had a flat tire on the same road as the bar. The victim initially told police that her assailant was clean-shaven, but she identified the fully bearded Clyde as her assailant when police brought him to her several hours after the assault. Police had found Clyde hitchhiking an hour before the assault and had ordered him off the road. Marlo bore a strong resemblance to Clyde and was dressed similar to him on the night of the assault, but the victim maintained that Clyde was her assailant. At trial, Marlo testified in his brother's defense, but was not asked by either the prosecution or the defense if he was the rapist. However, Clyde's defense attorney filed an affidavit stating he believed Marlo was the rapist. Clyde began requesting DNA tests in the early 1990's but prosecutors blocked these requests for years. In 1999, DNA tests exonerated Clyde and implicated Marlo.  (IP) (Frontline) (Justice: Denied)  [11/08]

Marlo Charles, a black man, was convicted in 2002 of the 1981 rape of a white woman. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. His brother Clyde Charles was previously convicted of the rape, but was later exonerated because blood tests showed the assailant has type O blood while Clyde had type B. Following Clyde's exoneration Marlo was convicted of the crime because he had type O blood. However, blood tests showed that the full blood type of the assailant was O- while Marlo's full blood type is O+. Records also show other evidence discrepancies.  (IIPPI)

“In 1986, Anthony Johnson was wrongfully convicted of the 1984 stabbing [murder] and sexual assault of his girlfriend Angela [Bond.] His conviction came as a result of police withholding key information, now-discredited forensic testimony and an alleged statement by Mr. Johnson. ... DNA testing on fingernail scrapings taken from the victim's body showed that a serial killer known to police at the time of Mr. Johnson's trial was the real perpetrator. ... Anthony Johnson was released in 2007, soon after the DNA test results came back, but successive appeals by the State meant he was not fully exonerated until September, 2010; 26 years after his arrest.” – IPNO

Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, both blacks, were convicted of murdering white prison guard Brent Miller in Louisiana's State Penitentiary at Angola, the largest U.S. Prison. Evidence against them seems to depend solely on coerced or bribed testimony. Woodfox and Wallace were known prison activists, and the conviction allowed the prison to keep them permanently in solitary confinement.

Robert King Wilkerson, also a prison activist, was also held initially in solitary confinement because officially he was “under investigation” for the death of Miller, although he was not at Angola at the time of Miller's death. Later he was charged and convicted of killing inmate August Kelly, but there was compelling evidence of his innocence. His conviction was later overturned. Afterwards, apparently to avoid being sued, the state insisted he plead guilty to conspiracy and receive time served. Wilkerson agonized over the decision, but agreed to it and was released. Woodfox got a retrial in 1998, but despite the lack of evidence was re-convicted.  (Justice: Denied)  [6/05]