(WTTW News)
A Gurnee man who spent nearly three decades behind bars after being convicted of murdering his ex-wife has been granted a certificate of innocence after his attorneys say the case against him was the result of “serial misconduct by law enforcement.”
Attorneys for Herman Williams — a former U.S. Navy member who served two tours in the Gulf War — announced Tuesday he has been awarded the certificate by the state following his exoneration in the 1993 killing of his former wife.
“Herman Williams lost nearly three decades of his life behind bars because of fabricated evidence and coerced statements and he will never get that time back,” Williams’ legal team, which included attorneys from the firms of Romanucci & Blandin and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, said in a statement.
According to his attorneys, Williams was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Lake County in 1993, where he maintained a cordial relationship with his ex-wife, Penny, following their divorce.
Prosecutors alleged Williams killed Penny in the evening hours of Sept. 22, 1993. But Williams maintained he saw Penny alive the following morning when he drove their two children from their apartment to school and to a babysitter.
That afternoon, Penny went missing. Williams called police on Sept. 23 to express his concerns, but according to his attorneys, he was told he needed to wait longer before he could file a missing person’s report, which he ultimately did the following morning.
Williams — who filed a lawsuit last August accusing former police officers, prosecutors and a medical examiner of fabricating and manipulating evidence — claimed the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force had “tunnel vision” and focused solely on him as the suspect.
According to his lawsuit, an assistant state’s attorney and a medical examiner fabricated Penny’s time of death to show she was killed between 8-9 p.m. on Wednesday, and a police sergeant allegedly manufactured a confession that Herman never gave.
Williams maintained his innocence, but was ultimately convicted of his ex-wife’s murder. It wasn’t until 2022 — nearly 30 years later — that he was able to prove his innocence through a forensic re-examination and new testing of DNA evidence, which established his innocence.
His attorneys also learned that the sergeant who was accused of falsifying Williams’ confession had fabricated confessions in multiple other cases, which have thus far led to three other criminal exonerations. Williams’ attorneys said the prosecutor involved in establishing Penny’s time of death had also been forced to resign from the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2011 due to behavior unbecoming of a law enforcement officer.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office ultimately agreed to vacate his conviction in September 2022.
“All wrongful convictions are tragic and the harm to the victims is immeasurable,” his attorneys said. “As Herman explains, serving time is hard for anyone, but serving time as an innocent man is utter torture. The cost of the wrongful conviction to this decorated member of the U.S. Navy has been staggering, we are pleased he has received his Certificate of Innocence, and we are committed to fighting for justice to him in the civil courts.”
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
