After 21 years behind bars for a murder he always said he didn’t commit, James Owens is a free man.
Owens, 48, was scheduled to be released from jail late Wednesday after Baltimore City prosecutors dropped all charges against him stemming from the 1987 murder of a 24-year-old woman.
“It’s a big step just getting out of jail after 21 years,” said Stephen Mercer, Owens’ attorney.
Owens is the seventh man in Maryland history released from prison because of post-conviction DNA evidence, according to the public defender’s office.
Two years ago, attorneys from the state’s Innocence Project announced the DNA evidence they said proved Owens and his co-defendant, James Thompson, couldn’t have murdered Colleen Williar. But prosecutors have fought releasing the two men from prison, convincing a judge to deny Thompson a new trial — a decision that’s being appealed — and attempting to convict Owens a second time.
That all changed Wednesday.
Prosecutor Mark Cohen said he could not go forward with charges against Owens after an expert testified he could not determine if hair found at the scene matched Owens’ hair.
“Five of the witnesses are deceased and a sixth is unavailable,” Cohen told Baltimore City Circuit Judge John Themelis. “Some of our evidence … has been destroyed.”
Suzanne Drouet, an attorney with Maryland’s Innocence Project, said she hopes prosecutors will drop charges against Thompson as well.
“Everything that applies to Mr. Owens applies to Mr. Thompson,” she said.
But Williar’s mother, Carolyn Case, 66, broke into tears upon hearing the news.
“I feel sick,” she said. “They’re both as guilty as can be. Everyone forgets about my daughter. I’m serving a life sentence.”
In 1988, Thompson admitted in testimony to burglarizing Williar’s house and masturbating, while Owens beat, raped, stabbed and strangled her.
But in 2006, attorneys said new DNA results excluded both as the originators of semen found on Williar’s body. The attorneys also said a bloodstain on Thompson’s pants came from a man. Drouet said Thompson gave a “false confession” after “trickery” from police and prosecutors.
Mercer said the case proves the need for better protection against innocent people going to prison. Mercer said said “jailhouse informants, false confessions and junk science” too often put people behind bars.
The attorney said his client was “overwhelmed” Wednesday morning. Mercer said Owens looked through the cell bars and was at a loss for words.
“Thank you” was all Owens said, the attorney recounted.
