Longtime LPI Client Bobby Williams freed on parole after 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
On July 27, 2023, longtime Loyola Project for the Innocent client Bobby Williams was released from prison on parole after spending 25 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Williams, now 50 years old, was an up-and-coming Inglewood rapper in 1997, when he was accused of the murder of a young man in the City of Inglewood. Despite being convicted of the crime, Williams has always maintained his innocence.
Loyola's Project for the Innocent (LPI) has been investigating his case for years and is relieved that Williams has been given his release through the parole process, but will not stop fighting to prove his innocence.
“The evidence was paper thin at trial. It was clear that one of the young men who testified as an eyewitness against Mr. Williams was not even at the scene of the crime,” said Adam Grant, Senior Director at the Project for the Innocent. “He didn’t know where or when the crime occurred.”
Loyola Law School student Sharra Duggan '24 has worked with LPI for the last two years assisting with this case. She has spent countless hours reviewing the case materials and new discovery, accounting for any discrepancies or missed information, traveled to Nevada to interview a witness, drafted witness interview questions, visited the police station to compare files, and assisted in creating, and then presenting, a presentation of the case to the CIU at the DA’s office.
Loyola’s Project for the Innocent assisted super parole attorney Joseph Magazenni '15 in securing Mr. Williams’ release on parole, but they are far from finished with his case. LPI has partnered with a team from top Los Angeles law firm Jenner and Block to mount an effort to take Mr. Williams’ case back to court and prove Mr. Williams’ innocence. “Mr. Williams deserves to have the truth told and his conviction overturned,” said Mr. Grant.
Clinic student Sharra Duggan ‘24 is currently conducting a second review of the discovery to ensure nothing has been missed, as the team prepares the habeas corpus petition. "My time working with Loyola Project for the Innocent has been an incredible and rewarding experience thus far,” says Duggan. “I hope to continue this work after I graduate in the spring. I am honored to have the chance to fight for the freedom of these men and women who have been wrongly incarcerated and to have the opportunity to amplify their voices.”
