ANNOUNCER: WE BEGIN WITH
BREAKING NEWS.
EDIE:
A SACRAMENTO MAN WRONGLY
CONVICTED OF MURDER RELEASED
AFTER 19 YEARS IN PRISON.
OUTSIDE THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY
JAIL, OUR CAMERAS CAPTURE THE
EMOTIONAL MOMENT.
THAT IS RICHARD ALEX WILLIAMS
REUNITED WITH HIS FAMILY.
WILLIAMS WAS JUST 18 YEARS OLD
WHEN HE WENT TO PRISON.
HE WAS RECENTLY ACQUITTED AFTER
A THIRD TRIAL.
KELLIE: SHAROKINA WAS THERE AND
JOINS US LIVE FROM OUTSIDE THE
SACRAMENTO COUNTY JAIL.
WHAT A REUNION.
SHAROKINA: THERE WERE TEARS OF
JOY OUTSIDE THE JAIL A FEW
MINUTES AGO.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
THIS IS THE VIDEO OF RICHARD
ALEX WILLIAMS REUNITING WITH HIS
FAMILY.
THERE WERE HUGS AND CHEERS AS
EVERYBODY EMBRACED.
THEY CRIED AND CHEERED WHEN THEY
CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF HIM OUTSIDE
THE JAIL.
HE WAS LIVING -- LEAVING TO GO
HAVE DINNER WITH HIS FAMILY.
WILLIAMS GAVE HIS OWN CLOSING
ARGUMENT IN HIS THIRD TRIAL FOR
MURDER.
I ASKED HIM ABOUT THAT WHEN HE
WALKED OUT MINUTES AGO.
I HEARD YOU GIVE YOUR AM CLOSING
ARGUMENT.
I DID.
THAT WAS THE MOST TERRIFYING
THING.
SHAROKINA: IT WORKED.
I TALKED TO THE JURY ABOUT MY
EXPERIENCE.
MY CIRCUMSTANCES.
I JUST SPOKE THE TRUTH.
I SPOKE FOR MY HEART.
SHAROKINA: IN A
NUTSHELL, THIS
IS RICHARD WILLIAMS' STORY.
HE HAD THREE TRIALS.
THE FIRST ONE MORE THAN 18 YEARS
AGO, THERE WAS A HUNG JURY.
IN THE SECOND ONE, THERE WAS
WHAT A FEDERAL JUDGE AMOUNTED TO
WAIT CONSTITUTIONAL AIR ARE --
TO A CONSTITUTIONAL ERROR.
THAT WON HIS THIRD TRIAL.
THIS IS RICHARD ALEX WILLIAMS,
NOW 37.
HE WAS BEHIND BARS SINCE HE WAS
18.
HE WAS ACQUITTED OF MURDER IN
THE SACRAMENTO COURTROOM
YESTERDAY.
THIS IS HIS OAUNT.
WE BROKE OUT IN TEARS.
SHAROKINA: WILLIAMS, WHO
DELIVERED HIS OWN CLOSING
ARGUMENTS IN THE COURTROOM, WAS
CONVICTED OF MURDER IN 1998
AFTER A MAN WAS KILLED AT THIS
SOUTH SACRAMENTO INTERSECTION
TWO YEARS EARLIER.
BUT, IT'S WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
THAT ULTIMATELY LED TO A NEW
TRIAL.
IN THE ORIGINAL TRIAL, A
SACRAMENTO PROSECUTOR KEPT AN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN OFF THE
JURY.
LATER, I FEDERAL JUDGE FOUND
THAT SHE WAS KEPT OFF THE JURY
BECAUSE OF HER RACE AND THAT
MEANT THE TRIAL WAS
CONSTITUTIONALLY FLAWED.
VICTOR HALTOM HAS REPRESENTED
WILLIAMS FOR 12 YEARS AND WAS IN
COURT WHEN THE PROSECUTOR HAD TO
EXPLAIN WHY HE KEPT THE WOMAN
OFF THE JURY.
SOME OF THE THINGS HE SAID
OFFENDED ME.
LIKE, SHE'S SINGLE AND NEVER
MARRIED.
THERE WERE TWO OTHER JURORS WHO
WERE SINGLE AND NEVER MARRIED
WHO WERE ALLOWED TO BE SEATED.
SHAROKINA: NOT ONLY DID WILLIAMS
WIN A NEW TRIAL, BUT IN THE
LATEST TRIAL, HE WON OVER THE
JURY.
AS WE TAKE A LOOK AGAIN AT THE
VIDEO FROM EARLIER, WILLIAMS'
ATTORNEY SET IN THE LATEST
TRIAL, THE WITNESSES AGAINST HIM
LACKED CREDIBILITY WITH ONE
HAVING A ROBBERY CONVICTION.
TODAY, SACRAMENTO COUNTY
PROSECUTORS WOULD NOT GO ON
CAMERA TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS
BUT RELEASED A STATEMENT ABOUT
THEIR LOSS IN THE COURTROOM.
HERE IS HOW THE STATEMENT READS
-- THEY SAY, "WE KNOW THAT CASES
DO NOT GET BETTER OVER TIME.
AND THIS CASE IS 17 YEARS OLD."
YOU MIGHT WONDER IF WILLIAMS WAS
ACQUITTED YESTERDAY, WHY DID IT
TAKE MORE THAN 24 HOURS FOR HIM
TO FINALLY BE RELEASED?
THAT WAS CERTAINLY A QUESTION
HIS ATTORNEY HAD TODAY AND HIS
FAMILY HAD TODAY.
WE TALKED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS ABOUT THAT.
THEY SAID THIS WAS A PROCEDURAL
MATTER THAT THEY HAVE TO GO
THROUGH A PROCESS WITH THE STATE
PRISON WHERE HE HAD BEEN HELD
BEFORE HE WAS BROUGHT HERE FOR
TRIAL.
AT THAT PRISON, THEY NEEDED TO
RELEASE A HOLD ON HIS RELEASE.
THAT TOOK ABOUT ONE DAY.
YOU SAW THE REUNION LOOKED LIKE
IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.