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Page printed from: https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2019/04/29/da-paul-howards-conviction-review-unit-to-start-with-wayne-williams-case/
DA Paul Howard's Conviction Review Unit to Start With Wayne Williams Case
"It is my belief that a conviction based upon truth and justice will withstand any scrutiny. It is my belief that the greatest risk is not allowing truth and justice to direct your decisions,” said DA Paul Howard.
By Katheryn Hayes Tucker |
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard (Photo: John Disney/ALM)Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr. has joined a new phase of the national criminal justice reform movement by creating a separate unit within his office to review convictions. And he has identified the first case for review: Atlanta’s 29 murdered and missing children and young men from the late 1970s and early 1980s and the conviction of Wayne Williams for two of them.
Howard, along with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Police Chief Erika Shields, announced last month they would review the Atlanta Child Murders. They plan to address lingering questions—not only about the guilt of Williams but the unsolved cases. At the time Williams was convicted, prosecutors believed he was responsible for many more of the missing children but decided against prosecuting those cases.