Exonerated Ohio Man Dies Four Years after Release from Serving 26 years
Exonerated Ohio Man Dies Four Years after Release from Serving 26 years
Just four years after his exoneration in a robbery and murder that he did not commit, Timothy Howard, 53, died of a heart attack. Howard and Gary James served 26 years in an Ohio prison for bank robbery and the murder of guard Berne Davis.
They were freed in 2003 after evidence withheld at their 1977 trial showed they were wrongfully convicted.
When the judge offered Howard his freedom if he would plead guilty to the charges, Howard refused. “Do what you’ve got to do, judge” Howard responded. “I have nothing to do with that bank robbery or murdering Berne Davis. His murder is not on my conscious.”
“That took a lot of integrity and courage,” said Howard’s attorney, James McCloskey. “That was his shining moment.”
In 2006, the State of Ohio agreed to a $1.5 million settlement to compensate Howard. See: James v. State of Ohio, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 04-CV-002808. It did not help Howard deal with his demons.
“It was a tough road for Timmy,” said McCloskey. “He just couldn’t get pat the years that were robbed from him. In a sense, he was in his own prison for the last four years.”
Howard is one of a half-dozen wrongfully convicted prisoners who died prematurely after release, said McCloskey.
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
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