Michael Austin was released from prison in 2001 at the age of 52 after serving 27 years for a crime he did not commit.

Austin was convicted in 1975 of killing a convenience store security guard in East Baltimore. His arrest was based on a mug-shot identification by a clerk at the store who originally told detectives that the shooter was a light-skinned black man, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 140 pounds. Austin, however, is 6 feet 5 inches tall, dark-skinned, and 210 pounds. Despite these inconsistencies, the clerk again identified Austin in court as the shooter. The only physical evidence against Austin was a business card that had scribbled on it the name of an alleged accomplice, a man who was later freed by police.

In 1997, Centurion Ministries, a non-profit organization that seeks to reverse wrongful convictions, took on Austin’s case. They were able to produce new evidence of Austin’s innocence that was subsequently presented at a 2001 evidentiary hearing. This information included an eyewitness to the crime who never testified in Austin’s original trial. Erik Komitsky, the assistant manager of the convenience store, testified that the shooter was not taller than him because he stood eyeball to eyeball with him. Komitsky is 5 feet 9 inches tall, considerably shorter than Austin.

Even Joe Wase, the man who prosecuted Austin in 1975, affirmed Austin’s innocence, saying to The Baltimore Sun in 1999, "I put a man behind bars who I'm now totally convinced is innocent."

Austin was freed from the Maryland House of Corrections by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge John Carroll Byrnes on December 28, 2001. A week later, on January 3, 2002, the Baltimore City State's Attorney decided not to retry Austin, and all charges were dismissed. Judge Byrnes noted that several errors had been committed in Austin’s original trial. Most notably, Austin’s defense attorney was ruled incompetent for failing to subpoena witnesses or a timecard from Austin's employer. Introducing this evidence would have shown that he had just left work at the time of the killing, which happened too far from the factory that he worked at for him to get there in time. According to Judge Byrnes, the prosecution also committed numerous errors and the trial judge gave faulty instructions to the jurors.

Austin received a full pardon from Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich in 2003, which permitted him to seek compensation from the state. In 2004, he was awarded $1.4 million for his 27 years of wrongful imprisonment. Since his release, Austin has spent his time working with former convicts to help them make the transition to life after prison. He has also started a jazz band called Michael Austin and True Spirit, for which he plays trumpet and keyboard.

Technorati Tags:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 5:22 pm and is filed under exonerations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.