DNA exoneree James Woodard dies in custody of Dallas County jail

New, 9:37 a.m.

In May 2008, James Woodard was freed from prison after he served 27 years for a crime DNA evidence said he did not commit: the Christmastime rape and murder of his girlfriend, whose body was found near the Trinity River. Hed been convicted in large part due to the testimony of an eyewitness who claimed to have been able to ID Woodard from several hundred yards away at 3:30 in the morning. And his was a high-profile exoneration, in part because 60 Minutes was there to document the entirety of Dallas Countys DNA-exoneration process from the moment Woodard submitted his DNA for testing till he was finally set free in a Dallas courtroom. National Public Radio reported on his release, which, for a brief moment, was a national story, one not like any other DNA case in Dallas County history. In time Woodard became a constant at the courthouse, showing up to welcome other exonerees to freedom.

But Woodard, who was 60 years old, is dead now and he died in while in the custody of Dallas County.

As KTVT-Channel 11 reported last night, Woodard had been arrested in August after Carrollton police were called to the scene of a traffic accident. Police arrested Woodard for several outstanding warrants, and Channel 11 reports officers found he was in possession of cocaine. The station also reports Woodard suffered from seizures; our Jennifer Emily says she once saw Woodard suffer a seizure at the courthouse during another exoneration hearing.

It remains unclear why Woodard was transported from Dallas County jail to Parkland Memorial Hospital early yesterday. Dallas County Sheriffs Department spokesperson Carmen Castro tells The News this morning only that weve opened an investigation into it, and thats all we have right now. We dont know any details, only that the investigation is ongoing.

Cory Session, policy director for the Innocence Project of Texas, was close to Woodard, and he told Channel 11 last night that hes directly responsible for the eyewitness ID law that Texas now has that requires all police agencies to have an eyewitness ID procedure in place. He was directly responsible for health insurance that wrongful convicted persons now have.

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DNA exoneree James Woodard dies in custody of Dallas County jail