Texas Man Spends 20 years in Prison For Murder Conviction Based On Lack Luster Evidence, Now Seeks Exoneration
Ates said while he was in prison he kept his mind focused on basketball and didn’t think much of the outside world. “When I get ready to play and start playing, you can zone everything else out,” Ates told Atlanta Black Star. In 2015, Ates’ case got another chance after the “Truth and Justice” podcast took an interest into his case. The podcast host, Bob Ruff, contacted Ates, and the two started a friendship, although Ates admitted he was reluctant and skeptical at first in fear of Ruff was a solicitor upon their initial contact. Ruff then got the Innocence Project of Texas involved.
“He said, ‘I’m going to get you out of here, it’s going to take me a while, but I know you didn’t do this and I’m going to help you,’” Ates said Ruff told him.
The Innocence Project of Texas, lawyer Allison Clayton met Ates and started to investigate the case. The lawyer was drawn to the case in part because of “the lack of any kind of objective evidence most crime scenes will contain especially crime scenes as violent as this one,” Clayton said.
Clayton worked to prove Ates’ innocence. She later got the Smith County District Attorney to agree to retesting the feces on his shoe.
“Then we can come back with DNA testing all these years later and say, definitively, that is not Elnora on the bottom of that shoe and once that happens, you have zero evidence biologically putting Ed at the scene of this crime,” Clayton said.
Once the Innocence Project of Texas independent DNA test couldn’t pin Ates’ to the feces believe to be from Griffin. This helped everything change in his favor.
“The District Attorney said, that was huge for me, and I can see why it would be because if you are trusting your expert and your expert is saying, that’s her poop on the bottom of the shoe, yeah, I can see how that could be damning,” Clayton added.
Clayton worked on the forensics of Ates’ case, the podcast lobbied too by asking listeners to send in letters to the Texas parole board who were set to review Ates’ case.
Ates was denied parole twice previously because he refused to admit to a crime he says he didn’t commit.
“He said, I’m so happy for you Ed, congratulations, you made parole, you’re going home,” Ates said after learning of his release. Since being released on parole, Ates has reunited with his son and daughter and his wife.
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