Bedford man feels ‘blessed’ after being freed from prison

A Bedford man convicted of murder in 1998 was freed Tuesday because of new evidence in his case.

John Earl Nolley, 42, who has spent almost 19 years in jail and prison, walked out of state District Judge Louis Sturns’ courtroom after a short hearing in which his murder conviction was overturned.

Nolley was not, however, exonerated in the case as investigators continue to look at new evidence. He is not expected to be tried again, attorneys said.

“I feel blessed,” Nolley said after being released on a personal recognizance bond.

Family members — including two grandchildren — and other supporters who filled the courtroom rejoiced as Nolley’s release was announced.

His release came as the result of work by Tarrant County’s Conviction Integrity Unit, the Innocence Project and Fort Worth atttorney Reagan Wynn.

Nolley, dressed in a suit and wearing a big smile, hugged supporters and thanked them for standing behind him. He stood for photos with members of the Innocence Project team, including Barry Scheck (who was on the defense team for O.J. Simpson).

“I want to thank God ... for keeping me and sustaining me all these years. I want to thank my family and the defense who worked hard and steadily,” Nolley said. “And I want to thank the DA’s office who worked for justice.”

Several men who had previously been exonerated with help from the Innocence Project were also on hand to show support.

“We are incredibly grateful to District Attorney Sharen Wilson and her Conviction Integrity Unit, which was cooperative, thorough and committed to re-investigating this case with fresh eyes,” Nina Morrison, a senior staff attorney with the Innocence Project, said in a statement. “No stone was left unturned in this investigation, and it is because of the Unit’s commitment to seeking the truth that Mr. Nolley’s conviction was reversed today.”

Convicted on May 27, 1998

Nolley was sentenced to life in prison on a murder conviction on May 27, 1998, based largely on testimony from a jailhouse snitch who later admitted he was lying. Additionally, new analysis of bloody palm print found at the crime scene has been linked to another person.

Nolley, who is African-American, was convicted of stabbing to death Sharon McLane, who is white and was found in her Bedford apartment on Dec. 14, 1996.

According to a brief, or writ of habeas corpus, filed with the court, the new evidence could have possibly convinced a jury of Nolley’s innocence, both his attorney and Tarrant County prosecutors agree.

Forensic experts at the time of Nolley’s trial concluded they could not tell who left a bloody palm print at the scene of the murder, according to a brief filed with the court. But subsequent testing found the print did not belong to Nolley or the victim and indicated the presence of a third person, the brief states.

In the state’s reply to the brief, Dawn A. Moore Boswell, assistant district attorney chief with the Conviction Integrity Unit, wrote that “the state concurs that newly-discovered and potentially exculpatory forensic evidence now exist that was not available at the time of the trial to either party and that evidence contradicts evidence offered at the time of trial.”

Nolley went to McLane’s apartment on Dec. 11, 1996, where they smoked some marijuana and drank some beers, according to the court brief. When questioned by police, Nolley said he was not at the apartment. He later said he was scared because he was on probation for a weapons charge from 1993.

Authorities gave little credence to witnesses who reported hearing “blood curdling screams” on Dec. 12, 1996, a day when Nolley was at work and had an alibi, according to the court brief.

Witnesses also reported seeing a tall white man wearing a black cowboy hat leaving the area of McLane’s apartment on Dec. 12.

Key testimony refuted

Nolley was arrested in 1997 and became acquainted with John O’Brien while in the Tarrant County jail. O’Brien told authorities that he had developed a relationship with Nolley while they both worked in jail library in the fall of 1997.

O’Brien told investigators with the Tarrant County district attorney’s offiice that Nolley confessed to him that he killed McLane after she resisted his attempts to rob her and because he saw her blood on his shoes.

Police never recovered any bloody shoes nor did they recover any items stolen from McLane’s apartment. Money was found inside the victim’s purse and no property was found missing.

O’Brien, who faced 25 to 99 years for stealing farm and welding equipment, later reached a plea agreement that resulted in a sentence of 10 years deferred adjudication probation.

O’Brien was later convicted for another crime and is now in prison.

And Nolley is free.

This article contains information from Star-Telegram archives.

ANOTHER MAN RECENTLY FREED AFTER YEARS IN PRISON:

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Bedford man feels ‘blessed’ after being freed from prison."