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May 1, 2008 5:02 pm US/Central
Wrongfully Convicted Man Marks 1 Year Of Freedom
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
"It's like taking a 100-pound weight off my shoulders."
It took 25 years for James Waller to feel that release.
In 2007, Waller was exonerated for a crime he didn't commit: aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
Even now he carries his governor's pardon with him, in case he ever gets stopped.
The most humiliating thing he had to endure was the annual sex offender registration.
"Police officers come by and look at you like you the scum of the earth," he said, "and I knew all the time I hadn't did anything."
Waller spent ten years in prison and another 15 as a parolee.
Then the New York chapter of the Innocence Project got his DNA tested and proved he wasn't a criminal.
On Thursday the Texas Innocence Project planned to host a fund-raiser.
Waller was set to appear on its behalf.
For Waller, the hardest part of his journey back was the death of his pregnant wife in an accident six years ago.
Now he says his three generations of dogs represent the family he'll never have.
"They took a whole generation away from me.
I won't have grandkids now.
I can't go back and get 'em."
"For James Waller the most important thing now is to sell his home and leave Dallas--in his words, to put it in the rear-view mirror.
"That's the best view you'll get in Dallas," he said.
He plans to start over in Louisiana.
The 17 Dallas County cases overturned because of DNA evidence will receive national attention this weekend.
The CBS News program 60 Minutes will profile the efforts of the Innocence Project and the Dallas County District Attorney's office this Sunday at 6:00 on CBS 11.
Dallas County has had more wrongful convictions cleared than any jurisdiction in the country.
For a look at those cases,
click here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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