Black man wrongfully imprisoned on rape charges freed after 36 years

Sullivan Walter used a handkerchief to wipe away tears Thursday as a judge formally vacated his conviction for a home-invasion rape.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Black man wrongfully convicted as a teenager for a New Orleans rape more than 36 years ago was ordered freed Thursday after a judge threw out his conviction.

Sullivan Walternow 53used a handkerchief to wipe away tears as a state district judge formally vacated his conviction for a home-invasion rape. Judge Darryl Derbigny expressed anger that blood and semen evidence that could have cleared him never made it to to the jury.

"To say this was unconscionable is an understatement," Derbigny told Walter.

After appearing in court in New OrleansWalter was driven to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabrielwhere he was officially released.

District Attorney Jason Williams' office joined with defense attorneys working with Innocence Project New Orleansa criminal justice advocacy groupto have the conviction vacated.

Walter was 17 when he was arrested in connection with the New Orleans rape. The rapist had entered the home of the victimidentified in the record as L.S.in May 1986held a knife to her throat and threatened to harm her 8-year-old sonwho slept through the incident.

Emily Mawan attorney with Williams' officeoutlined the problems in the case in courtnoting there were reasons to believe the victimthe only witnesshad mistakenly identified Walter.

"There were some red flags that the eyewitness testimony could well have been unreliable," Maw told Derbigny.

Those "red flags" had been spelled out in a joint filing by the defense and prosecutors ahead of Thursday's hearing.

"In this caseL.S. was being asked to make a cross-racial identification of someone who at all the times that she could observe him was either maskedin an unlit room at nightand/or threatening her not to look at him. In additionL.S. was not shown a photo array containing Mr. Walter until over six weeks after the crime," the motion said.

More significantlyno evidence was presented about Walter's blood characteristics that did not match the semen collected from the victim after the rape.

The filing also recounts years of errors by Walter's previous attorneysincluding failing to point out conflicting statements by a police officer who worked on the case and missteps during the appeal process regarding the blood and semen evidence.

When he was cleared ThursdayWalter had been serving a total sentence of 39 years — four for a burglary charge unrelated to the rape caseand 35 years for multiple charges in the rape case.

Attorneys said the victim in the rape is now deceased. Maw said in court that authorities had reached out to the victim's sonwho was not presentand that he had expressed regret on behalf of his mother about the wrongful conviction.

Innocence Project New Orleans Legal Director Richard Davis said Walter's race was a factor in the wrongful conviction.

"The lawyers and law enforcement involved acted as if they believed that they could do what they chose to a Black teenager from a poor family and would never be scrutinized or held to account," Davis said in a written statement. "This is not just about individuals and their choicesbut the systems that let them happen."

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