LaVone Hill walked out of a Muskegon prison Wednesday, 22 years after he was sent there for a Detroit double murder he didn’t commit.
Hill’s lawyers with the University of Michigan’s Innocence Clinic call his case, which involved both police and prosecutorial misconduct, one of the most egregious they’ve come across. Hill became the 44th wrongfully-convicted person the Innocence Clinic has helped free from prison.
Hill was convicted of killing two people following a Detroit dice game in 2001. His conviction was based on the testimony of one man, who recanted it in court. But Detroit Police Sergeant Walter Bates had coerced that man's testimony, and he testified against Hill, who he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
The Innocence Clinic said Bates, a chronic gambler, didn't just coerce the testimony, but also that he was under investigation for being involved in a series of bank robberies.
“He was actually suspended from the police force" at the time of Hill's case. "The indictment was pending against him,” Hill said. But, “This evidence was not turned over to my legal counsel.”
Hill said he believes that Bates targeted him for a set-up. At the time of the murders, Hill was dealing drugs, and he said that Detroit cops including Bates often targeted drug dealers for extortion and “to deal drugs for them.” But Hill said he refused.
“Neighborhood guys, for lack of better words, got into bed with those cops,” Hill said. “They weren't alone. They went along with that plan. Me personally, I never went along with that.”
Hill, speaking to Michigan Public just after having his first meal outside a prison in more than 20 years on Wednesday, said he now feels a sense of vindication and is “looking forward to living a good life.” But he said he didn’t realize the full weight of his wrongful imprisonment until he knew he would be freed.
“I've never accepted the fact that I would die in prison,” Hill said. “But I never knew that there was something in me that was draining me, that was wearing me out, that was really killing me from the inside.
“So when I found out that I was being released from prison and all the charges was dismissed … I felt like a new man.”
Additional evidence led to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit to push for and ultimately secure the overturning of Hill’s convictions, said Innocence Clinic Director Jenna Cobb.
Among that evidence: Two independent witnesses who had been present the night of the shooting swore that Hill had not even been present at the dice game where the shooting took place, and new ballistics evidence indicated that a high-powered rifle was used in the killings rather than a handgun as stated in the prior witness’s recanted false statement. Additionally, the son of one of the victims of this crime — who does not know Hill — shared that another man had confessed to killing his father.
“You can't really look at the evidence in this case and come to a reasonable conclusion of anything other than Mr. Hill's innocence,” Cobb said.
“This is a remarkable case involving a recanting witness, extreme instances of witness coercion by police, other witnesses who later confirmed that Mr. Hill was not present on the night of the shooting, and an apology from the true perpetrator. While Mr. Hill will never get back the many years he lost in prison, today we join Mr. Hill in celebrating his release and looking forward to the impact he will make outside of prison walls.”
Hill said that as a result of his experience, he’s become passionate about criminal and constitutional law, and now wants to devote his time to helping others wronged by the criminal justice system.
“I want to start some type of organization to give back to my children of incarcerated parents, but also be able to reach back into the prisons and help guys that are wrongfully-convicted,” Hill said.
“I’d like to be an in-between for [them], because that's what is missing. You know, all these years I just been walking around, and if there was somebody there that was in my same shoes that got out and reached back and say to those guys, ‘I notice what you got going on. I’ll help you like this.’ That would ease the burden on me. So based on personal experience, I'm going to use that as part of my passion to give back," said Hill.
