PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "At the second trial, Oliver admitted to receiving the Crime Stoppers reward but no other money. She also reiterated her testimony at a 2007 hearing. Another judge found Spencer actually innocent in 2008, but the Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed and Spencer remained behind bars. Then, in 2010, prosecutors under a prior district attorney met with Oliver and said she admitted receiving between $5,000 and $10,000, which they were able to corroborate with other witnesses, according to the judge’s findings."
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STORY: "How a judge decided lies and reward money had led a jury to wrongfully convict a Dallas man in a deadly robbery," by reporter Krista M. Torraiva, published by The Dallas Morning News on March 10, 2021.
SUB-HEADING: Ben Spencer has long maintained his innocence in the robbery and slaying of Jeffrey Young."
PHOTO CAPTION: "Ben Spencer, who maintains his innocence, is serving a life sentence at the Coffield Unit of TDCJ in Tennessee Colony, Texas, after being arrested in March 1987 for the robbery and killing of Dallas business owner Jeffrey Young."
GIST: "A Dallas man’s conviction in a 1987 deadly robbery should be overturned because prosecutors withheld evidence and the star witness lied about how many thousands of dollars she received in reward money, state District Judge Lela Mays ruled Wednesday.
Ben Spencer has spent the last 34 years in Texas prisons after the slaying of clothing executive Jeffrey Young. Now 56, Spencer is expected to be released this week while a higher court reviews the judge’s Spencer has always maintained his innocence even though admitting guilt could have meant earning parole years ago.
Prosecutors under Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot reviewed Spencer’s case and found that previous prosecutors failed to tell Spencer’s lawyers that a woman who connected Spencer to the case expected to receive as much as $25,000 in reward money.
“We conducted an independent investigation, and when we did that, it was apparent that Spencer was wrongfully convicted,” said Cynthia Garza, chief of the conviction integrity unit.
Spencer has always maintained his innocence even though admitting guilt could have meant earning parole years ago.
Jim McCloskey worked to free Spencer for years when he headed Centurion Ministries, a nonprofit that helped investigate wrongful convictions around the country, including in Dallas.
“We were thrilled to hear about [the judge’s findings]. We were waiting breathlessly for her,” said McCloskey, who has kept in touch with Spencer. “Once she signed the papers, Ben is one step away from freedom after 34 years of wrongful conviction.”
Spencer was 22 in March 1987 when three people who knew him said they saw him getting out of a car that belonged to Young on a moonless night in West Dallas. Spencer’s attorneys have raised questions about the veracity of their eyewitness testimony, which is notoriously unreliable.
At the center of the prosecution’s case was Gladys Oliver. She testified repeatedly that she saw Spencer and another man, Nathan Robert Mitchell, get out of Young’s car in the street outside her house. Young’s body was found badly beaten in the street. He later died in a hospital.
Oliver also pointed police to two other witnesses who incriminated Spencer.
Spencer’s first trial in 1987 resulted in a murder conviction. But it was later overturned because Oliver didn’t disclose that she received $580 from Crime Stoppers.
Spencer’s first trial in 1987 resulted in a murder conviction. But it was later overturned because Oliver didn’t disclose that she received $580 from Crime Stoppers.
The next year, prosecutors tried Spencer for aggravated robbery. Spencer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Mitchell was also convicted in the robbery and sentenced to 35 years. He was released on parole in 2003 and died four months later from a heart attack at age 42.
At the second trial, Oliver admitted to receiving the Crime Stoppers reward but no other money. She also reiterated her testimony at a 2007 hearing. Another judge found Spencer actually innocent in 2008, but the Court of Criminal Appeals disagreed and Spencer remained behind bars.
Then, in 2010, prosecutors under a prior district attorney met with Oliver and said she admitted receiving between $5,000 and $10,000, which they were able to corroborate with other witnesses, according to the judge’s findings.
Mays signed a joint filing from prosecutors and defense lawyers Wednesday agreeing that Oliver’s testimony was critical to Spencer’s conviction.
‘That’s the question’:
Only Spencer and Oliver know the truth, said Andy Beach, who prosecuted Spencer but is no longer with the DA’s office.
“Either Gladys made this whole thing up to get the reward or she didn’t — and that’s the question,” said Beach. “Only she knows that, and she sure convinced me and my investigator. And she convinced 36 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt.
“In the intervening 33 years, there are some things that give me some concern about whether or not Ben did this, but Gladys never recanted, and so I don’t know 33 years later,” Beach said. “I absolutely do not know.”
Beach said he would handle the case differently today.
“I’m not sure the case would have been tried in 2021 because of the scrutiny now over eyewitness testimony,” especially when you factor in additional reward money, Beach said. “I don’t know if you try that case in 2021 without any DNA or fingerprints or anything else. But in 1988, we tried those cases all the time.”
Beach still believes the distance from Oliver’s window to the street and the lack of lighting aren’t issues because Oliver knew Spencer well enough to make him out in the street. Spencer’s attorneys argue she was too far away.
But Young’s family has believed for three decades that Spencer is guilty. Beach said he has remained in touch with Young’s family and, though he hadn’t yet spoken with them Wednesday, he said the new investigation into the case has been very difficult for them.
“It’s just opened the scar wide open,” Beach said.
Young’s son declined to comment Wednesday.
What’s next?:
Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals will decide whether to vacate Spencer’s conviction. His lawyers have asked Mays to allow Spencer’s release while he awaits the higher court’s decision.
If the appellate court agrees with Mays, prosecutors would have the option to retry Spencer, dismiss the case or agree to his claim of actual innocence.
“I think that’s something to decide down the road ... once we hear back from the Court of Criminal Appeals,” Garza said.
That decision could take months.
If Spencer is deemed “actually innocent,” he would become eligible for funds from the state given to those who spent time behind bars for crimes they did not commit.
Spencer’s lawyers, Gary Udashen and Cheryl Wattley, are focused for now on the next hurdle before them: convincing the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals that his trial was unfair.
Spencer’s attorneys also say in court records that two others who testified — Jimmie Cotton, who initially said he saw Spencer the night of the slaying, and Danny Edwards, who said he overheard Spencer admitting to the crime while they shared a Dallas County jail cell — admitted lying to jurors.
The attorneys also point to new scientific evidence that they say proves that witnesses who claim to have seen Spencer on the night of the slaying could not have identified him as the killer because they were too far away.
They also offer an alternative suspect: Michael Hubbard, whom the attorneys describe as a “prolific criminal” known for restaurant robberies and violent attacks. Hubbard, who invoked his right to not incriminate himself at the 2007 hearing in Spencer’s case, is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for aggravated robbery.
“Judge Mays has agreed with the state that conviction should be vacated, so that’s a major step forward in getting justice for Ben Spencer,” Udashen said."
The entire story can be read at:
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Read also: Dallas News story on
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Creuzot reviewed Spencer’s case and found that previous prosecutors failed to tell Spencer’s lawyers that a woman who connected Spencer to te case expected to receive as much as $25,000 in reward money.
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Prosecutors under Dallas County District “ducted an independent iwhenwe did that, it was apparent that Spencer was wrongfully convicted,” said CynthGarza, chief of the conviction integrity unit.
