NEWS RELEASE Former Death Row Inmate Case to Challenge Original Conviction    Based on Evidence from Discredited Houston Crime Lab                                                 NANON WILLIAMS AMONG HUNDREDS OF CASES TAINTED BY INEPTITUDE AND FALSE EVIDENCE SAY SUPPORTERS   October 1, 2008 Houston, TX:  An October 8th oral argument before the U.S. Fifth Circuit of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, could signal new hope in the case of Houston-based Nanon Williams, originally sentenced to death row in 1992 at age 17 based on false evidenced from the much maligned Houston Police Department Crime Lab.   Despite the attention being garnered by groups like the Innocence Project by overturning of numerous DNA cases originally linked to the now-closed Houston Police Department Crime Lab, individuals like Nanon Williams continue to receive scant attention since his conviction rests on improper ballistic testing by HPD Crime Lab as opposed to the more media-grabbing DNA evidence.   However, the upcoming meeting before a 3-judge panel in New Orleans remains a major opportunity to present evidence not heard in court, as well as draw more attention to Nanon’s case and the underlying issue of public trust in the court system.   “We are excited that law authorities are now beginning to free individuals based on evidence that proves their innocence-we just want the same measure applied to Nanon’s case as to others people convicted on false evidence by the crime lab,” said attorney Morris Moon. "The most important issue here is ensuring that our criminal justice system maintains the will and ability to acknowledge and then correct its mistakes,” he added.   Several millions of dollars were spent investigating procedures at the Houston Crime Lab resulting in a 400-plus page report issued last year by independent investigator, Michael Bromwich.  The report showed that many of the failures in the processes and chain of command concerning DNA cases may have also occurred with ballistic cases such as Nanon’s.   The mysterious ‘loss’ of evidence in overcrowded unkempt property rooms as well as the commonly accepted, although ethically questionable echoing of superiors findings without ever actually testing and retesting evidence, have both proven to be problematic in ballistics cases.  These same issues are protracted and appear in DNA cases as well.   Two cases that are highlighted in Michael Bromwich’s report of the Houston Crime Lab are the cases of Nanon Williams and Johnnie Bernal, another juvenile sentenced to death row. In both cases, pathetic human error has cost both men years of their lives.   At the age of 17 Nanon Williams was convicted due to testimony given by the HPD Crime Lab's (then) lead ballistics examiner, Robert Baldwin.  Baldwin testified that Williams fired the fatal shot to kill Adonius Collier, landing Williams on death row. Williams was incarcerated for over 6 years before independent firearms’ testing was allowed in 1998. The testing revealed the state’s main witness Val Guevara fired the fatal shots, not Williams.  Later lead examiner Baldwin would recount his testimony, but by this time Williams had already spent years on death row.  Williams remains in prison in Texas.   In the case of Johnnie Bernal, ballistics examiner Baldwin fired an unprecedented 25 rounds (and even managed to rationalize cleaning the alleged weapon while performing ballistics tests).  Standard procedure for ballistics testing requires that one round of testing be conducted.  In both cases the erroneous actions totally deviate from standard ballistic practices Baldwin's expert testimony was also used to send Bernal to death row. Both Williams and Bernal are still imprisoned even though in 2001 a judge recommended Williams receive a new trial and various groups and representatives have repeatedly called for new trials in both cases.   In 2005, his sentenced was commuted to life imprisonment by the Roper V. Simmons U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring the execution of juveniles.    Mistakes and corruption by the Houston Police Department Crime Lab led to an independent investigation of the Crime Lab. In the final report, released on June 13, 2007, by Michael Bromwich it was confirmed that the HPD examiners misidentified firearms evidence used to convict Williams and provided incorrect testimony at trial. For Nanon’s supporters, despite it being a long time coming, the evidence is all on their side.   “The case of Nanon Williams is yet another example of the problems with the HPD crime lab, and the criminal justice system as a whole. Though it's now a known fact that the evidence used to convict Williams was false, Nanon Williams still faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in a Texas prison," said Anita Babinaeux, a spokesperson with the Nanon Williams Support Group (NAWISA). “We’ve got to change that,” she added.   In the United States more than 220 men have been exonerated with 135 of them being African Americans.  Collectively these men have spent more than 2700 years in prison for crimes that they did not commit.     Incarcerated now for 16 years, Nanon like many of those being whose cases are being overturned today continues to maintain his innocence. He has gone on to become both an author and a poet, yet in still, the process of going from staring the death penalty in the face to life imprisonment based on falsified evidence has remained a both cruel and unusual punishment for any human being.   For More information visit www.nawisa.org   Nanon Williams is an incarcerated writer, activist and outspoken leader for justice. He is the author of three published books, The Ties that Bind Us (2000), The Darkest Hour (2002), and Still Surviving (2003).  Prior to the publication of Still Surviving, he was best known for “The Williams Report,” a quarterly newsletter he created to provide a vehicle for the voices of prisoners sentenced to death.