Free At Last: After 12 Years of Jail Time, Man is Finally Exonerated of a Sexual Assault He Didn’t Commit
After spending nearly 12 years of his life in jail, and even more past that living under the shadow of the conviction, Randall Mills is finally exonerated of all charges of sexual assault on a young girl.
On March 15, 1999, a 12-year old girl had gone missing. She was found locked outside of her apartment, later telling police that she had been to Mills’s apartment, where he gave her marijuana, sexually assaulted her, and then paid her $20. After a DNA test, the semen stains found in the girl’s underwear, along with the word of the girl as a first-hand witness, were enough to persuade a Marshall County jury to find him guilty of the crime. Mills was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mills continuously fought for his freedom, though, and in 2008, after being imprisoned for nearly 12 years, Anne-Marie Moyes, Mills’s criminal defense attorney who works with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Nashville, was able to have the old DNA tested again, revealing Mills’s innocence. The initial analysis was flawed, the analysis said, additionally finding that the DNA wasn’t Mills’s at all.
Mills was released from prison in 2011, however, because his name wasn’t fully cleared, he was still considered a sex-offender. His everyday life was still deeply affected by the false charges, and the prosecutors hounded him, seeking to take advantage of when a state appeals court ordered new trials on all of the charges against him two years later.
Finally, in early April of 2014, Mills received the call saying that prosecutors were finally dropping charges. He has finally fully exonerated of a terrible crime that he didn’t commit.
Despite the long-overdue victory, Mills lost everything from the false charges, ranging from the time lost to imprisonment to loss of all employment opportunities–even hints of the past charges, despite exoneration, are enough to frighten away potential employers. Mills has even lost his son, who committed suicide a year after he was imprisoned.
According to Bill Ramsey, Mills’s Nashville-based attorney, the next step would be to seek compensation for the wrongful conviction. Twelve years is a major chunk of Mills’s life lost to a false charge.
If you or a loved one are in need of a criminal defense attorney, call us right away. Your freedom lies just ahead, and we will do everything possible to ensure you get the justice you deserve.
