Alfred Brown officially declared innocent in the murder of an HPD officer



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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Alfred Brown, a man convicted in a murder case involving a 15-year-old Houston police officer, has been officially declared innocent, the Harris County Attorney's Office said Friday.

Brown was released from prison in 2015 after 10 years on death row. But at the time, he was not declared innocent.

On Friday morning, Special Prosecutor John Raley presented a report on the Brown case, explaining what led to his initial conviction and why he was innocent.

Raley said the grand jury was violent and offensive, with a woman being threatened with sexual assault in prison if she did not tell the grand jury what they wanted to hear.

Another woman was threatened with seeing her children taken away and jailed for several weeks, until she told the story that the former County Attorney of Harris County, Dan Rizzo, wanted her to tell.

Rizzo is accused of failing to present key evidence in Brown's murder trial.

Brown was convicted in 2005 on the basis of hidden evidence. He was released from prison after the discovery of this key evidence.

Raley said the case against Brown had stopped weakening.

"There is no sufficient evidence that a reasonable juror can conclude that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the legal definition of innocence." Alfred Dewayne Brown is innocent in law, "said Raley.

RELATED: A DA will consider the case of a former death row inmate who wants to be declared innocent

Brown had been accused of killing the Houston police officer, Charles Clark, in 2003 during a robbery at a check cashing. A store employee, Alfredia Jones, was also killed.

Brown had always claimed that he was not on the scene.

"Alfred Dewayne Brown is the driving thread of the report.The evidence shows that he was not present at the scene of the crime and that he was therefore innocent of the charges against him." could not be guilty of killing Constable Clark, it had to be someone else, "said Raley.

"He knew that he was really innocent, we knew that he was really innocent, but the fact that the county attorney finally acknowledges that it's just extraordinary for him," said Neal Manne. , Brown's lawyer.

TO FOLLOW: The family rejoices after the release of a death row convict convicted of killing an officer

The union of police officers in Houston reacted strongly to the announcement of the prosecutor.

"It's ridiculous – anyone with common sense, any detective with a year's experience can argue that there is evidence to convict this person," said Ray Hunt, former chairman of the HPOU .

Hunt went on to say that he was disgusted with Harris County Attorney Kim Ogg. "You are a shame for Harris County in this decision you made, you are a shame for his family (Jones) and you are a shame for the family of this man (Clark) and his wife, and I do not care which quotes me in saying that, "Hunt continued.

Agent Clark's wife, Hilda, also spoke, claiming that she had been trying to meet Ogg several times, but had never succeeded.

"I have the impression of fighting against the system, I should not have to do it for justice to be done to my husband, and with his blessing, it will allow Alfred Brown to collect money." 39, money from the state for killing my husband, "said Hilda Clark. "All I ask is that the community support us and support us, that we will have another try."

"I want to tell the victims' families that I understand their anger and their frustration, I can understand that this is for us, it happens," replied Ogg. "But it is not fair for your loved ones to have a wrongly convicted person who is corrupted by what the prosecutor did in this case."

Two others were sentenced and remain in prison.

Dashan Vadell Glaspie has been convicted of robbery under a plea agreement and is serving a 30-year sentence.

Elijah Dwayne Joubert has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He stays in the death row.

Declaring a truly innocent person, even someone who has already been released from prison, is a very high bar. But more than 100 exonerates were paid for their wrongful convictions.

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