James Calvin Tillman is a man who was wrongfully convicted of rape, and served 18.5 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA testing on July 11, 2006.
[1] Tillman argued that the jury selection was improper because court clerks had excused a number of potential jurors due to financial hardship.
The final argument in Tillman's appeal was that the court had improperly excluded a notebook containing field notes from a police department social worker.
Within the notes was a statement from the lead detective on the case indicating that fingerprints not matching Tillman's were found on the driver's side door of the vehicle, where the perpetrator had entered.
[6] James Tillman worked as a clerk at the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), mentors at-risk children and has served in ministry for the Hopewell Baptist Church.
Several members of the state legislature introduced a bill to provide Tillman with total compensation of $5,000,000 for the 18.5 years that he wrongfully spent in jail.