HOUSTON The reality of impending freedom after being imprisoned 27 years for a rape he did not commit proved to be too much for a Houston man, and his emotional and angry reaction to the situation prompted attorneys and a judge to delay his release by one day.
Michael Anthony Green was expected to be granted a bond during a court hearing Thursday. The move came after the Harris County District Attorney s Office on Wednesday announced that new DNA tests showed Green did not rape a woman in 1983 -- a crime for which he's spent the better part of his life behind bars.
This is a day Michael Anthony Green has thought about, dreamed about and anticipated for 27 years, said Bob Wicoff, Green s attorney. And this day, now that it s finally come is highly emotional for him. None of us could anticipate how he would react in this situation.
Before Green was brought before visiting state District Judge Mike Wilkinson, he became upset while waiting in a courtroom holding cell, Wicoff said.
Green told 11 News in an exclusive interview when he was transported from prison to the Harris County Jail the night before, he opted to stay in a cell of his own, not realizing it was a high security cell. That meant he would be in leg irons and have his hands handcuffed behind his back when he left for court. Green said the guard was hurting his wrists and forcing him to walk faster than his shackles would permit.
The guard transporting him was a little rough in his(Green s) mind, a lot rough in his mind. Then he got to the hold over cell and he was just really angry about it. On top of the fact that it was an emotional day to begin with, this happens and it just triggered something he s had to put up with for 27 years, said Green s attorney.
Wicoff asked for sympathy for his client, saying Green had his life taken away from him when he was incarcerated at 18 years old, a boy who was put in prison with really bad guys. Green is now 44 years old.
This was a gross perversion of justice the way this case went down, Wicoff said. He s angry and he should be angry. We should all be angry as to how this happened back in 1983.
A Harris County Sheriff s official felt that Green had no reason for his outburst.
The treatment he received was routine and it was carried out safely, said Alan Bernstein, Harris County Sheriff s Office. He became agitated and voiced some very generalized vague death threats.
Wicoff said he along with prosecutors and the judge decided it was best to let Green compose himself, have him stay in jail one more night and come back on Friday for the bond hearing.
However, Green s family members were upset by the delay, saying their loved one has already spent enough time in prison for a crime he didn t commit.
It s ridiculous. They should be ashamed, said Brenda Murray, Green s aunt. He needs to get out today.
The Harris County District Attorney s Office declined to comment on the delay, said spokesman George Flynn.
Once the bond is granted, Green will be free while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals makes a final ruling on his innocence.
Green went to prison for a crime in which four men abducted a woman from a pay telephone in north Houston. Police said the men took her to a remote location, where three of them raped her. The men drove off, leaving the woman there, but were later chased by police. The men abandoned the car and fled on foot in north Houston. Green was detained by officers that night as he walked in the area.
The victim could not identify Green in person when he was first detained but later picked him from a photo lineup as one of her three attackers.
Green maintained his innocence but was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 75 years in prison. He was the only person convicted in the case.
Wicoff has blamed bad police work for Green s conviction.
New DNA tests were done after his case was reopened by the new Post-Conviction Review Section of the Harris County District Attorney s Office.
In another case reviewed by the section, Allen Wayne Porter, 39, of Houston, was freed on bond last week after newly uncovered evidence showed he was innocent of a 1990 sexual assault. He had spent 19 years in prison. His case is also being reviewed by the appeals court.
Green said spending nearly three decades of his life in prison for something he didn t do was like having the most precious thing in the world taken away, but said he got over being angry a long time ago, because at some point you realize it s just not worth it. But Thursday morning s events upset him and he was not quiet about it.
Many felt it was not necessary to shackle an innocent man, but Bernstein said he was merely following procedure.
When we get an order to release him, we will. As long as he s here, we have to treat him like anybody else, Bernstein said, and added that is the bottom line.
