Wrongfully convicted Alfred ‘Dewayne’ Brown and Attorney Brian Stolarz shared their story Thursday.
LEWISBURG — Accompanied by way of a Bucknell University alumnus who helped him to search out freedom, a wrongly incarcerated man who spent years on dying row shared his riveting story all the way through a different presentation Thursday night time on the Campus Theatre.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973, a minimum of 195 wrongly convicted folks have spent years on dying row till they discovered their justice. Alfred “Dewayne” Brown is considered one of simplest 16 blameless folks to had been exonerated from the dying penalty in Texas.
Brown used to be joined on the theater by way of Brian Stolarz, an legal professional and Bucknell graduate.
Brown grew up within the south, residing between his grandmother’s house close to Baton Rouge, La., and along with his mom in Houston, Texas. At 21, Brown used to be arrested for the deadly capturing of a police officer all the way through an armed theft. At 23, no longer simplest used to be he dealing with trial, but additionally without equal sentence.
“All I could think about was really just thinking about what the… lawyers were not doing,” stated Brown, about his thoughts all the way through the trial. He couldn’t consider what used to be taking place to him.
According to each males, the one time Brown ever spoke out in court docket used to be at the day he used to be given the dying penalty.
“That’s when I jumped up and said…’These people are trying to take my life away for something I didn’t commit…I didn’t do this crime,’” recounted Brown.
That’s across the time that Brown met Stolarz.
“I was the first one of my family to go to college or law school,” stated Stolarz, who grew up in a blue collar circle of relatives in northern New Jersey.
While attending Bucknell, Stolarz used to be within the social justice residential school.
“I learned about the many injustices of the world and decided that that was something I was going to try to do with my life,” he stated.
After graduating from Bucknell in 1995, Stolarz went on to wait Catholic School of America Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C.
From there, Stolarz used to be set on the usage of his wisdom in legislation to assist in giving a voice to those that wanted it maximum.
“I defended people for free, because… that’s what the Constitution requires,” he stated, as he described the years of being a public defender earlier than transferring directly to a bigger legislation company known as Ok&L Gates.
At the bigger legislation company, Stolarz discovered himself longing to return into serving the general public.
“Then I got a call from a senior partner who asked me if I wanted to work on a death penalty case, pro-bono,” Stolarz recalled.
The non-profit Texas Defender Service offered Brown’s case to Stolarz.
“The moment I met him, I knew he was innocent,” Stolarz stated of his first time assembly Brown. “My life and career was worth this one man’s life.”
According to Brown, it took 3 years for him to realize believe in Stolarz, because of the revel in he’d had with attorneys in the past. Nonetheless, Stolarz used to be the primary legal professional Brown felt he may just believe.
It used to be additionally a primary for Stolarz, who used to be used to protecting the ones with not more than tried homicide fees.
“This was the first time I’d ever gotten to this level of a case where someone this serious was in jail and had not done it,” stated Stolarz, “I thought about him every single day.”
During the struggle to assert Brown’s innocence, Brown by no means misplaced his religion.
“I was locked up, but my mind… my mind never was there,” he stated. “How can you control something you can’t control?”
“I’ve never met anybody with his grace and his peace,” stated Stolarz, of Brown, “He’s a unicorn.”
Eventually, a field containing proof striking Brown at house all the way through the crime used to be found out, and Brown used to be exonerated.
“I think the most pure form of legal services is giving something of your time and talent to those who don’t have money and who don’t have a voice,” Stolarz stated.
Although the method may also be irritating, he stated it’s vital to remember the fact that “every case is a new opportunity to defend somebody; to put yourself in their shoes and to… validate and vindicate their rights.”
Checking govt energy is every other subject of gravity to each males. After being launched, Brown and Stolarz determined to open up about their decade-long prison struggle. They touched at the significance of prison justice reformation, prosecutorial and legit misconduct whilst advocating for a extra truthful justice gadget.
Stolarz advocates for early DNA trying out, in addition to early manufacturing of Brady Documents, or proof in want of the accused.
Stolarz is now the broadcast writer of the guide “Grace and Justice on Death Row: The Race Against Time and Texas to Free an Innocent Man,” which is a Washington Post bestseller. Both males additionally gave the impression in “Hidden Alibi,” part of the Netflix documentary “The Innocence Files.”
Brown gained reimbursement from Texas for his wrongful imprisonment, and now fortunately drives vehicles around the U.S., one thing he loves. Both males stay buddies to at the present time.
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