The Exoneration Of Randall Dale Adams - 2222 Words

The Exoneration of Randall Dale Adams On November 27th, 1976 Mr. Adams’ car ran out of fuel and he was forced to walk to the nearest gas station (Radelet, 2011). Shortly after this Mr. Adams was given a ride by local teenager David Ray Harris who was driving a stolen vehicle. The two then spent the day together, even going to see a drive in movie. That night Mr. Adams returned to a motel where he was staying. Mr. Harris, now alone, was stopped by Officer Wood and his Partner Teresa Turko shortly after midnight. Officer Wood was shot and killed by Harris, who sped off too quickly for Officer Turko to get a plate number or a good look at the shooter. Directly after this Mr. Harris drove home and for the next few days, bragged to his friends†¦show more content†¦Adams did not. (Radelet, 2011). After Adams took the stand and pleaded once again his ignorance of the crime, the prosecution presented a signed document that they claimed was Adams confession; but in reality stated that at some point during the day, Adams had been near the scene of the crime. They then sent to the stand surprise witnesses that the defense was not informed of. The defense intended to cross examine the witnesses but the prosecutions said that they were out of town and would be unable to return. Not surprisingly the jury returned a verdict of guilty; now the prosecution would turn its attention to Mr. Adams sentence (Martin, 2011). Seeking the death penalty the prosecution called on two expert witnesses: psychiatrist Dr. James Grigson, whom was known as Dr. Death, and Dr. John Holbrook, who was the former chief of psychiatry for the Texas Department of Corrections (Radelet, 2011). The American Psychiatric Association has stated on multiple occasions that it is impossible to predict future criminal acts of offenders (Radelet, 2011). However, Grigson and Holbrook testified that if Adams were to be released, he would most certainly be a great danger to society. Grigson had testified before this in hundreds of simil ar cases that ended with a death penalty, hence why he is known as Dr. Death. For the death