The Long Road from Factual Innocence to Exoneration

Posted on November 28, 2025 by Justice for Willie

It is over a year since Willie Manning asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to reconsider its refusal to let him present newly discovered evidence to the circuit court. In his Motion for Rehearing he argued that the court erred in that it fragmented its scrutiny of the evidence, instead of considering the cumulative impact of the many instances of unreliable and false evidence. He asked for an evidentiary hearing because of the recantation of the key witness, Earl Jordan. And he invited the court to view his case as part of a pattern of the “numerous wrongful convictions stemming from the same judicial district and prosecutor” as his current case.

The document concludes:
“The Court should not be blind to the complete erosion of the reliability of the State’s case at trial—or the injustice that has occurred to Manning.”

Perhaps the previous blindness of the court is linked to Willie being African American, and the victims in the case being white. As a new ACLU report states:
“Even when factual innocence seems manifestly apparent, true exonerations remain hard to come by for many Black men, and especially those wrongfully convicted of killing white victims. “

The report also sheds light on Willie’s slow progress in establishing his innocence:
“…it takes Black death row exonerees over four years longer on average to be cleared than their white counterparts.”

Nineteen years ago Clive Stafford Smith wrote:
“It is a platitude to suggest that as the Christmas season approaches we should consider those less fortunate than ourselves, but if we did Willie would certainly qualify.”*

His words are as true now as ever.

*Next week Clive Stafford Smith will be lecturing on Donald Trump and the Death Penalty. The lecture can be viewed online as well as in person in London, England. Clive was once one of Willie’s attorneys and was very aware of the discrepancies in both his cases. If you wish to watch his lecture, on Thursday, December 4 at 18.00 GMT (the nineteenth anniversary of the publication of his article about Willie) you can register here.

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The Killing of Richard Jordan

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Justice for Willie

Last month was a horrible one for Willie Manning: his fellow inmate, Richard Jordan, was killed by an employee of the State of Mississippi. It was a grisly business, with a break for another employee to try to decide whether Jordan was unconscious.  

The event was certainly traumatic for Jordan’s wife, who sobbed while watching her husband being killed. It must also have been horrific­­ for Jordan’s attorney (who also represents Willie), who was observed to dab her eyes while watching the killing of her client.

The death penalty allows no room for rehabilitation: it is unashamedly about revenge. But, as Mike Berners-Lee so rightly puts it, “Revenge is about multiplying the total damage.”* As well as the likely pain and suffering experienced by the condemned man, trauma and bereavement are inflicted on his family, friends, fellow inmates, prison staff and attorneys. The total damage is enormous.

Richard Jordan committed a horrendous murder while severely traumatized after three back-to-back stints of military service in Vietnam. Jordan’s jury was not informed about the huge impact such trauma can have on a person’s behaviour: this impact has only recently been understood.

Willie Manning does understand that Jordan’s brain was damaged by trauma when he committed his crime. Despite the stress of dealing with his own case, Willie did what he could to support Jordan during his last weeks on death row.

We are thinking of Willie at this sad time, and of everyone else who grieves for Jordan.

We also remember Edwina Marter, who died at Jordan’s hand 48 years ago. Sadly, the killing of Jordan will not restore her life.

*Berners-Lee, Mike (2019), There is no Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years, Chapter 6 (People and Work). Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

NB The title of this post was amended on November 28, 2025: Jordan’s first name, Richard, was added to the title to remove the possibility of confusion with the key witness in Willie’s remaining case, Earl Jordan.

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, executions, Mississippi, Richard Jordan, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Video for Willie’s Birthday

Posted on June 12, 2025 by Justice for Willie

Today, Willie Manning’s 57th birthday, we urge you to watch a newly produced musical video which uses song and images to outline flaws in his remaining case. We are very grateful to the makers for drawing attention to the injustice that Willie faces.

Please share this video with your friends and followers.

We hope that on his birthday Willie will feel strengthened by this new video, and by the knowledge that many people worldwide continue to support him.

Happy birthday, Willie!

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Willie’s Grandfather and the KKK

Posted on May 7, 2025 by Justice for Willie

Today, May 7, 2025, it is twelve years since Willie Manning came close to being killed by the State of Mississippi. We remember the horror of that time, and the agony for his relatives of not knowing if Willie would survive the day.

May 7, 2025 is memorable to Willie for an additional reason: it marks the 70th anniversary of the murder of Rev. George W. Lee in 1955. Lee was an African American who campaigned to encourage Black people in his local Mississippi community to register to vote. He was told to remove his name from voting rolls; when he refused, he received countless threats against his life. He ignored these. Late on May 7, 1955, Lee was gunned down while driving his car. The local sheriff claimed that the cause of death was a traffic accident, and that buckshot pellets in Lee’s face were dental fillings torn out by the impact. No one was brought to justice for this appalling murder.

Lee was not the only African American man killed in 1955 while promoting Black voting rights in Mississippi. Lamar Smith met a similar fate; and there were other victims whose names have been forgotten. Among these was Willie’s maternal grandfather, Levi Manning, who was similarly active in helping Black people to register to vote.

Willie learnt from his mother and grandmother that members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) – or white supremacists – arrived at Levi Manning’s house in Moorhead when he was not at home, and found out his whereabouts. Soon afterwards he was dead. Nobody was charged for the crime. Willie’s family was hugely impacted by the death: his grandmother had to work in the cotton fields to scrape a living for herself and her children.

Mississippi continues to be troubled by the KKK. As the World Population Report states,
“[T]he exact number of Klan members remains elusive, as the organization operates clandestinely and membership is often kept confidential. Despite this secrecy, reports of Klan activity persist in various states, indicating the ongoing influence of this hate group. States such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee have witnessed a relatively higher concentration of KKK activity…”

On May 7, with its dual anniversaries, it seems reasonable to wonder if KKK influence has impacted the outcome of Willie’s case in any way. Perhaps the Mississippi Supreme Court should add this possibility to its awareness of discrimination in his case. At any rate, as Willie awaits the court’s decision, we trust he will be granted what his grandfather was not: justice.

And we are certain that Levi would have been extremely proud of his kind, patient, courageous grandson – Willie Manning.

You can watch a support video for Willie Manning here.

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Discrimination incriminates

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Justice for Willie

Two briefs supporting Willie Manning have been submitted to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The national and local Innocence Projects use theirs to show that jailhouse informant testimony, unreliable forensic science, and prosecutorial misconduct are “leading contributing factors to wrongful conviction”. They also highlight “a pattern of problematic evidence and wrongful convictions” in other cases brought by Willie’s prosecutor.

The other brief, filed by American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, Mississippi Office of State Public Defender, and Mississippi National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, delves into the shamefully high chances of a person of color suffering injustice.

We learn that aspects of Willie’s case are in line with Black predominance in murder case exonerations. For instance, three key witnesses at his trial perjured themselves by making false accusations: in other murder cases undermined by false accusations and perjury, 59% exonerees were Black. And the witness tampering and bribery in Willie’s case are echoed in other cases where the murder case defendants are Black.

But much of the filing is devoted to jury selection and its impact on the verdict. We hear that under Doug Evans, Chief Prosecutor of Mississippi’s Fifth Circuit Court District between 1992 and 2017, Mississippi prosecutors excluded Black prospective jurors at a rate nearly 4½ times that of white prospective jurors. Prosecutor Forrest Allgood struck Black jurors at Willie’s trial for spurious reasons, with the result that the jury of twelve had “only two Black jurors in a county where 40% of the population is Black and where 28 of 85, or 33%, of the individuals in the venire were Black.”

As well as discriminating against Black citizens who could have made good jurors, rigged juries can have huge consequences for the trial outcome. On average, Black jurors are more skeptical of the police, more concerned with false convictions, and less likely to convict Black defendants. And in more diverse juries, white jurors process “trial information more systematically” and are “less likely to believe the defendant is guilty”.

Such information should surely be of enormous importance to the Mississippi Supreme Court, where only one of the nine Justices is Black. It is known that “judges’ life experiences shape how they understand the law and facts in front of them”; the Mississippi Justices likely need support to understand how casually discrimination can incriminate.

We trust that the Court, newly recomposed following November’s elections*, will pay Willie’s two supporting briefs the attention they deserve, in order to make its decision systematically and dispassionately. Willie’s life depends on it.

*Unfortunately, Justice Kitchens, whose dissent supported Willie, has now been replaced. The other Justice voted out was in the majority that  opposed Willie’s motion.

Posted in death penalty, Mississippi, racism, USA, Willie Manning, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Judicial District 16: Official Misconduct and False Forensics

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Justice for Willie

Both Willie Manning’s capital cases were tried in Mississippi’s judicial district 16. His 2015 exoneration in the Jimmerson-Jordan case is one of seven known wrongful capital convictions stemming from the same prosecutor in that district. All these cases feature false forensics and/or official misconduct.

Willie’s Motion for Rehearing* for his remaining capital case rightly alerts the Mississippi Supreme Court to this shameful pattern. Significantly, official misconduct and false forensics lie, too, at the heart of Willie’s current case.

Willie also points out that in its September 2024 Order, the Court mistakenly considered the new evidence in a piecemeal way, instead of following normal legal precedent and assessing the cumulative prejudicial impact of the evidence:
“The Court should not be blind to the complete erosion of the reliability of the State’s case at trial”.

The Motion for Rehearing also describes the Court’s “abrupt change of course” from precedent about post-conviction appeals as a way to prevent Willie appealing, thus actually changing Mississippi law.  

Willie focuses on Earl Jordan’s affidavit as particularly deserving reconsideration. The Court should note that Jordan was desperate when he signed a statement claiming Willie confessed to him; and that two months afterwards it was decided not to charge Jordan as a habitual offender. (“It is difficult to imagine a greater motivation to lie than the inducement of a reduced sentence.”).

Willie adds that several other desperate and incentivized witnesses featured in the State’s attempts to elicit false testimony against him; and that false testimony is alarmingly common in wrongful homicide convictions.

And he reaffirms the dissenting judges’ belief that the circuit court, and not the Mississippi Supreme Court, is the proper place to assess the significance of the new evidence.

All this guidance can only be helpful to the Court. We trust it will be inspired to reconsider.

*Willie Jerome Manning Petitioner v. State of Mississippi Respondent, Motion for Rehearing. No. 2023-DR-01076. In the Supreme Court of Mississippi, October 30, 2024.

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, Judicial District 16,, Mississippi, USA, Willie Manning, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mississippi Supreme Court “Perverts its Function”

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Justice for Willie

Willie Manning’s long road to achieving justice has been blocked again: the Mississippi Supreme Court, in a close and shocking 5-4 decision*, has barred Willie from taking newly discovered evidence to the circuit court.

The dissenting judges are strong in their criticism of the majority:
“Today the Court perverts its function as an appellate court and makes factual determinations that belong squarely within the purview of the circuit court judge.”

The dissent focuses on the recantation of Earl Jordan. It notes the central importance of Jordan’s trial testimony in previous judgments, as having removed the case “from the circumstantial realm”. The dissenting judges express astonishment that the court “now declares its stance on this not to be valid”.

They continue:
“Jordan’s affidavit raises questions of fact that entitle Manning to an evidentiary hearing, especially in light of the heightened standard that applies in death penalty cases.”

The Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel issued a press release in response to the court’s shameful decision. It concludes:
“What measure of justice is served if the wrong man is put to death?
In 2024, will Mississippi allow a man to be executed when it has been proven that corruption, coercion, and false forensics lie at the core of his conviction and death sentence?”

Surely the answer must be “No.”

*Willie Jerome Manning A/K/A Fly v. State of Mississippi 2023-DR-01076-SCT, En Banc Order. Supreme Court of Mississippi. September 16, 2024

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, Earl Jordan, Mississippi, USA, Willie Manning, witness coercion, witness testimony, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Video /Podcast Page

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Justice for Willie

If you’d like to learn more about Willie Manning’s case from videos or podcasts, it’s now easier to do so. There are links to several videos and a podcast on a new page on the Justice for Willie Manning website.

The videos range from analyses of Willie’s Steckler-Miller case, broadcast at around the time of Willie’s scheduled execution in 2013; to a private investigator’s current quest to discover who really committed the Steckler-Miller murders. Our original video supporting Willie is also included.

The podcast considers the wider implications of Willie’s two cases, with his legal team highlighting irregularities that occur in both of Willie’s cases and in many others.

It’s easy to underestimate the extent of the injustice that Willie has experienced. These videos and this podcast serve as a much needed reminder.

Posted in capital punishment, death penalty, Injustice, Mississippi, USA, Willie Manning, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

 New Video: The Case was Fabricated

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Justice for Willie

A new video about Willie Manning’s remaining case has been launched, showing how aspects of his trial that suggested guilt have now been demolished. Yet the real possibility of Willie’s execution remains.

Ballistics evidence formed a significant part of the trial. As narrator Matt Duff[i] tells us:
“At trial an FBI firearms expert testified that the bullets taken out of the tree in Willie’s yard, and the bullets removed from the victims’ bodies, were fired from the exact same barrel.”
However, Chris Fabricant[ii] explains that this testimony is scientifically unsound:
“You cannot say, consistent with contemporary scientific understanding, that one gun, and only one gun, could have fired a particular projectile.”

Witness testimony has also been discredited. We hear that Earl Jordan, Willie’s cousin, has admitted that he fabricated inculpatory evidence:
“My trial testimony was not true. My statements to the sheriff about Manning’s confession were also not true. Manning never told me that he killed anyone.”

Duff adds that another witness, Paula Hathorn, received reward money for being a prosecution witness:
“For her fraudulent testimony, Hathorn got paid $17,500 to testify against Willie.”

Duff’s conclusion is clear:  “The case was fabricated.” And in answer to the question “Is there any evidence that connects Willie to these murders?” Willie’s attorney[iii] is adamant:
“No. There was no DNA connecting Mr Manning to the scene; there were no fibers found… even though there were fingerprints found, they do not match Mr Manning’s. Mr Manning had no ties to the victims. So while the case was weak to begin with, it has completely crumbled over the years.”

The video requests information about the murders of Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler and invites questions about the case.

Please watch this short video and share it widely. Thank you.

[i] Matt Duff is a private investigator.

[ii] Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation, Innocence Project

[iii] The attorney who speaks on this video is Krissy Nobile, Director, Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel.

Posted in ballistics testimony, Mississippi, USA, Willie Manning, witness testimony, wrongful convictions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Highs and Lows – and Birthday Wishes!

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Justice for Willie

Today, June 12 2024, is Willie Manning’s birthday. He is now 56 years old. It is shocking to realize that this is the 30th birthday that he has spent on death row.

A lot has happened since Willie’s last birthday. In September last year he filed significant new evidence that completely undermined the prosecutors’ case against him; this was a time of relief and even hope for Willie.

But then came the prosecution’s astonishing request for an execution date. As a result, Willie spent much of last November in the prison area where inmates are closely monitored prior to execution. This must have been extremely stressful for Willie: he had spent some days in that same area during the traumatic time in 2013 when he came within hours of being killed.

Willie was finally returned to his usual cell, following the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision not to immediately set an execution date.

As his attorneys continue to work tirelessly to provide legal opposition to the prosecutors’ arguments, we know that Willie is in good hands. We hope that today he can focus on making today as enjoyable as he can.

We wish Willie a happy 56th birthday.

Posted in African American, death penalty, executions, Mississippi, trauma, USA, Willie Manning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment