Years after brothers serve 20 years for rape they said they did not commit, judge tosses wrongful conviction
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Shanta’ Owens ruled last month that the two men were wrongfully convicted of rape in 1993, a crime the two men always declared they did not commit. A crime for which each served two decades in prison.
Owens noted: “The report revealed additional blood evidence that was present at the scene and never tested.”
Meadows, now 48, was just 19 when he was incarcerated. He reached EOS the May after his brother. “Five, five, twenty-fifteen,” he tells me.
In 2012, three years before reaching EOS, Meadows married his long-time girlfriend. “I thank God for her,” he says, “for helping me navigate through financially. Having a wife that’s with you makes a whole lot of difference.”
He has three stepsons—from high-school age to 22 years old. He talks fondly of “raising them boys who they don’t get caught up—just talking them through life.”
It was all the harder because they were not able to live as a family due to Meadows’ sex-offender status, which didn’t allow him to live under the same roof as children. Instead, he lived with a family friend in Trussville. Meadows visited his wife’s home, could stay for hours, but he would leave before sundown. “It’s hard trying to raise three teenage boys when you can’t be there all the time,” he says.
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In a perfect world the filth who withheld the evidence would be incarcerated for the same 20 years, but we know that won’t happen. In fact, they will likely claim they are still guilty. This is what they did after destroying evidence in my case and then lying to the court about its existence. There are rarely any consequences for these heinous acts and so they continue to act with impunity.
Agreed, David. The feds withheld exculpatory evidence in my case and presented demonstrably false evidence. I have to proof, just need a great lawyer!