Two Wrongly Convicted Men Set Free in Dallas [Interview]

Imagine sitting in prison for a crime you did not commit. Then, ten years into a life sentence, another prisoner confesses, names an accomplice and signs an affidavit. That should be enough to get you out of jail, right? That is not how the system works. In fact, that confession might not matter at all. Two Texas prisoners, however, had the Actual Innocence Clinic in Austin and UT Arlington's Innocence Network dig into their case. They found that affidavit in 2007.

On October 23rd in a packed Dallas courthouse, two wrongs were finally made right: Claude Simmons and Christopher Scott, who had been serving life sentences for the 1997 slaying of Alfonso Aguilar, were set free. When they cut off the blue handcuffs, the men hugged their families. Cheers filled the packed room.

We talked with Tiffany Dowling, a lawyer with the Actual Innocence Clinic in Austin who worked on the Simmons case. She told us they get hundreds, perhaps thousands of letters a year.

Was the affidavit an "Ah ha! He’s really innocent" moment for you?

There was a lot of work to be done once the affidavit came, but it was certainly a happy moment to see it.

What in the world prompted Alonzo Hardy to confess?

Everyone keeps asking me that. I don’t know; Mr. Hardy would have to answer that question - why it was in his heart and his head to come forward. The circumstances, I think, were that he ran into someone in prison who knew the Simmons family and was in touch with Claude Simmons’ sister.

How did the DA’s office react to your initial contact and throughout the process?

I think they were helpful and cooperative from the first time we contacted them to discuss the case. They were incredibly helpful in doing things that we would not be able to do, like trying to track down Don Michael Anderson [the accomplice], who has since been arrested.

What was it like in the courtroom?

I was struck by how really calm and collected Claude Simmons and Christopher Scott were, given the nature of what was going on. I was nervous; I didn’t know what to do or what to think as an attorney and I can’t imagine what they were feeling.

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Dowling recalled speaking with Simmons before the hearing. She said that he was very kind and asked her thank all the students who worked on his case.

It will take a few months for the Appeals Court to review the evidence and issue a final ruling.