On November 22, 1981, 20-year-old Henry James Jr. spent much of the day helping a friend repair his car in Westwego, Louisiana. Later that day, James was riding in the car as his friend drove. The car was in an accident and James’s friend was arrested.
About 8 p.m. that night, James went to the home of his friend and told his friend’s wife, who he had met before, what had happened. Then he went home.
At 6 a.m. the following morning, November 23, 1981, the friend’s wife was awakened by a man who came in the back door and pulled out a knife. The man raped the woman in her bedroom and fled.
Police were summoned and the victim told police that she did not know who attacked her but gave a brief description of her attacker.
On November 24, 1981, a police officer patrolling the neighborhood saw James, and believed James fit the description of the attacker given by the woman. The officer told the detective who was working on the case, who showed the victim a book containing about 75 photographs of Black men. The victim, who was white, ultimately selected a photograph of James.
On November 25, 1981, James was arrested and was put into a lineup. The victim identified him again. James was charged with one count of aggravated rape.
In May 1982, James went to trial in Jefferson Parish District Court. The victim testified and identified James as her attacker.
The prosecution also called a physician to testify that the victim had had intercourse within a few hours of his examination. What the jury did not hear was that serology testing from the rape kit had excluded James as the attacker. The prosecution had turned the laboratory report over to James’s defense attorney, but the attorney never introduced it in court.
James testified and denied committing the crime. He described his day with the victim’s husband. He said that on the morning of the attack, he was asleep until he was awakened by his stepfather and went to work. His stepfather testified that he woke James, and another witness testified that he saw James walking to work and gave him a ride. James’s boss testified that James was at work at 6:48 a.m.
James also testified that his friend’s wife was angry at him when he told her that her husband had been arrested. “She felt like I was the one who got her old man into the accident,” James testified.
On April 15, 1982, James was convicted of aggravated rape. On May 7, 1982, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
James lost his appeals. In 2005, he reached out to the Innocence Project in 2005 seeking DNA testing. At that time, Jefferson County crime lab personnel searched for evidence in the case, but were unable to find anything.
On May 3, 2010, Milton Dureau, who worked in the lab, was looking for evidence in a different case when he happened upon a slide from James’s case. He remembered the case number from his earlier search for evidence. The slide was sent to Orchid Cellmark in Maryland for DNA testing. On Sept. 26, 2011, the tests excluded James as the rapist.
On October 20, 2011, 24th Judicial District Judge Henry Sullivan vacated James’s conviction and the charges were dismissed.
That night, James was put into solitary confinement to ensure his safety, and the following morning, October 21, 2011, he was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
James subsequently was awarded $480,000 in compensation from the state of Louisiana.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 01-13-2012
Last Update Date: 02-16-2026
