Joyce Watkins and her late companion were cleared after spending half their lives in prison, People reported on Tuesday, February 1.
An unlikely affair. The facts date back to 1987 when Joyce Watkins and her companion, Charlie Dunn, drove their 4-year-old niece to a Nashville hospital. Both had it recovered unconscious from the home of other relatives and she died the next day. As People reported on Tuesday, February 1, an investigation was opened and doctors found “serious wounds to the vagina as well as traces of wounds to the head“. If Joyce Watkins and Charlie Dunn were convicted, it was because of a medical examiner who testified and claimed that these injuries had occurred. “in the nine hours that the little victim was with the couple“. Thus, they were found guilty in 1988 and each received a life sentence for murder as well as a 60-year sentence for aggravated rape. However, the couple never ceased to proclaim their innocence but he was not heard from until 2015. Charlie Dunn is dead in jail while Joyce Watkins has, for her part, obtained his parole. The beginning for her of a long fight to prove his innocence.
She never let go. As soon as she was released from prison, Joyce Watkins took steps and was able to count on the support of Jason Gichner, her lawyer. “From the start, the case made no sense“, he assured in the columns of People. “Joyce and Charlie were in their forties, had full-time jobs, had never had any problems before. And then once you meet Joyce, you definitely understand there’s no way she did that.“, he continued. In addition, the lawyer also clarified that the family members of the little girl never believed in their guilt: “She always thought Joyce was innocent“, he said. According to Jason Gichner, the jurors had “Hands tied. They heard from a medical expert that the injuries date back to when she was with Joyce and Charlie. And that alone was bullshit“, he lamented. In addition, the defendant appealed to the Tennessee Innocence Project which, during the investigation, discovered that the house “the girl’s whereabouts prior to reuniting with the couple had been the subject of allegations of abuse”. However, social service workers have “accepted the explanation that the physical injuries were playground injuries“, can we read. A revelation that was enough to close the investigation.
Joyce Watkins cleared: how did she react?
Finally exonerated, Joyce Watkins quickly reacted: “I’m just glad I got out of this, ’cause it cost me half my life for nothing“, she said before adding: “But I will overcome this. I thank God for allowing me to do this.” For her part, the daughter of Jackie Dunn, who died in prison, spoke following her father’s exoneration: “I wish my father had been there to witness this day. He knew he was innocent, he knew he didn’t commit these crimes“, she concluded.
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