Donald E. Gates (Innocence Project)D.C. will be paying out $16.65 million to an innocent man who served 27 years in prison after being framed by police for the 1981 murder and rape of a Georgetown student.
Yesterday a jury ruled that D.C. homicide detectives fabricated at least part of a confession from an informant and withheld evidence that led to Donald E. Gates’ wrongful conviction for raping and killing Catherine T. Schilling in Rock Creek Park.
Now D.C. is paying out millions in a settlement for violating Gates’ civil rights, according to the Washington Post.
“I’m absolutely elated. The only thing I can do is thank the Lord,” said Gates. “I’m hoping the message goes around the country: You can’t violate a black man or black woman’s civil rights, or no American citizen’s civil rights anywhere. That’s what I hope.”
Gates was exonerated of the killing in 2009 thanks to DNA evidence. In 2012, DNA pointed them in the direction of Schilling’s actual killer—a temporary custodian at her workplace who followed her home. He died a year before he was identified.
This recent case exposed the many ways Gates’ case was botched, and it has disturbing implications for other cases handled by the Metropolitan Police Department. At Gates’ trial, testimony from a FBI forensic expert stated that Gates’ hair matched that of hair found on the victim. Upon further review, it turns out that forensic hair examiners had been overstating so-called “matches” for over two decades.
A key part of the case was testimony from police informant Gerald Max “Bear” Smith, who claimed that Gates had confessed to Schilling’s murder after the fact. The jury who convicted Gates—and even Gates’ own attorney—never learned that there were plenty of reasons not to trust Smith. A junior homicide investigator warned detectives in the case that he was “treacherous.” Smith was able to avoid an extended prison term in exchange for his testimony. Altogether, Smith earned $1,300 for working with authorities. But Gates’ legal team never learned this, and so they weren’t able to properly cross-examine Smith. The jury also yesterday ruled that lead detective Ronald S. Taylor had fed Smith Gates’ name.
Attorneys for Gates are calling for a review of all cases Taylor and Norman Brooks, his partner in the case, worked on during their time with the Metropolitan Police Department. They will also be asking D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and the Justice Department to investigate whether the detectives, now retired, should face criminal charges for perjury.
