Evidence uncovered by Kilkenny resident leads to US convict's release after 26 years
AN American man wrongly convicted of rape, has been released after almost 27 years behind bars – thanks in no small measure to a director of a Kilkenny-based company who as a legal intern uncovered crucial evidence on his case.
Niamh Gunn, commercial director of Tax Back International, first encountered Swift when she headed to New York for a three-month placement with the Innocence Project, a non-profit legal clinic dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reform of the US criminal justice system.
As a law student in Dublin in 2003, Gunn had beaten off stiff competition to be selected to work with the project under the supervision of staff attorneys.
"Walter's file was one that I was given to review during my first weeks with the Innocence Project," Gunn recalls. "And from the start I knew that this man should not have been put in jail," she added.
Swift was convicted in November 1982 of the rape of a 35-year-old Detroit schoolteacher. His conviction came despite his having an alibi, as well as evidence that the identification procedure was flawed – the victim never positively identified Swift, and he did not match her original description of the perpetrator – and forensic analysis that indicated he may not have been the rapist. These crucial details were not presented to the jury during the trial and Swift was convicted and sentenced to 55 years' imprisonment.
In the intervening years, Swift continued to maintain his innocence, thereby forfeiting all opportunities for parole. Believing his conviction to have been wrongful, the Innocence Project took on Swift's case a decade ago.
Steps to Justice
Despite all hard evidence having been destroyed, Gunn's review of the file led her to a number of key players in the case, including the laboratory analyst who had carried out the forensic tests - which indicated that Swift may not have been the perpetrator and which were not shown to the jury – the original investigating police officer, and Swift's then-girlfriend at the time of the crime.
The latter, who had provided his alibi, had since become a law enforcement officer. With a 24-year unblemished police career and no reason to lie on Walter's behalf, she still maintained that he had been with her.
Through these lines of investigation the Innocence Project came into possession of the first concrete evidence of Walter's innocence, including signed affidavits from some of the key players.
"With each person I tried to warm them up a little before getting into the specifics of the case, and it seemed to work," Gunn explained.
Ultimately, Niamh's three-month stint in New York turned into six months, and even after leaving the Innocence Project to return to Ireland she continued to stay in touch with the case and to lobby on Walter's behalf, meeting him for the first time in March 2007.
"It was the first time I met with Walter. It so exciting," Niamh recalls. "During the summer of 2003 I was able to speak to him a number of times a week; but it was great to finally meet with him," she said.
When Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck visited Dublin in 2007, he and Niamh decided she would fly to Detroit for a meeting with District Attorney Kim Worthy. After the meeting, the DA agreed to investigate the case – and in May 2008, agreed that Swift should be exonerated.
"Walter Swift has been in prison for more than 25 years. He is finally going to be free – which would not have been possible without Niamh's tireless work on his case," said Scheck.
Gunn has also been congratulated on her achievement by Minister for Trade and Commerce John McGuinness. "I have worked with Niamh on various business projects and have also seen the company she represents going from strength to strength in Kilkenny," Minister McGuiness said. "This story is a fitting tribute to Niamh's tenacity and I would like to congratulate her on the personal journey that has seen Walter Swift become a free man after 27 years."
James MacGuill, the President of the Law Society of Ireland, also paid tribute to her work with the Innocence Project whilst atrainee solicitorat the Society'sLawSchool.
"Niamh has acted in the finest tradition of the solicitor's profession and has played a major role in undoing a gross miscarriage of justice," MacGuill said.
"She is an inspiration to all practicing solicitors and a reminder that an independent legal profession is vital for the preservation of fundamental freedoms."
Support for Walter
Having spent the best years of his adult life in jail for a crime he did not commit, Walter Smith emerges to face an uncertain future.
Gunn, who today is Commercial Director of Tax Back International (TBI), travelled to the US to be among those to greet Walter on his release, and is also spearheading fundraising and publicity efforts to help him begin a new life on the outside.
TBI and its sister company taxback.com have been providing invaluable support to Niamh and to Walter, including a generous donation of $8,000 to a fund set up in Walter's name, to be drawn from the company's already very active Outreach Programme.
Meanwhile a special website (www.walterswift.com) has beenset up tochannel donations into Walter's fund, enabling people around the world to help with just a click of their mouse.
"The story of Walter Swift's exoneration and release highlights not only the power of perseverance in the course of the pursuit of justice, but which also demonstrates the worldwide reach exercised by Irish men and women," Gunn says. "Now more people can help make a positive contribution by donating to the Walter Swift Fund."
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