In 2003 I was arrested (along with Dashan Glaspie and Elijah Joubert) and later convicted and sentenced to death for robbery and murder — crimes I didn’t commit. I spent 12 years and 62 days in prison, nearly 10 of those years on death row in Texas, until I was finally exonerated with the help of my legal team, including my attorney Brian Stolarz.
Dewayne Brown before his wrongful conviction and after his exoneration. Photos: Texas Department of Correction and courtesy of Dewayne Brown.
When I first heard that my story was going to be highlighted in the Netflix series The Innocence Files, I was a bit overwhelmed. But I’m glad that what I went through was able to show a wider audience how innocent people can end up in prison. It’s a problem we need to keep talking about.
I was just 21 years old when I was arrested, and at the time of the crime, I was at my girlfriend’s apartment. I called her using her home phone while she was at work — this was at the same time police believed I was with Dashan and Elijah.
It wasn’t until 2013 that a homicide detective discovered that the prosecution had the critical phone record at the time of trial, but did not turn it over to the defense. They were found, of all places, in the detective’s home garage.
This kind of misconduct from people who are supposed to seek justice happens a lot more than people think. That’s why the work of shining a light on stories like mine is so important.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
