Debra Brown — found innocent of murder and freed after spending nearly two decades in prison — says time stood still for her while the rest of the world, and her children, grew and changed.
"Try to imagine being frozen, then waking up 17 years later," Brown says.
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The case so far
At Debra Brown’s 1995 trial, prosecutors claimed she shot and killed her friend and employer, 75-year-old Lael Brown, at his Logan home at 7 a.m. on Nov. 7, 1993 — the only time when Debra Brown had no corroborated alibi. She was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison for up to life.
Rocky Mountain Innocence Center attorneys, who began working on Brown’s case almost a decade ago, last year presented witnesses who said they saw Lael Brown alive after he had supposedly been killed. One witness was on the defense’s witness list but was never called to testify.
Second District Judge Michael DiReda found Debra Brown “factually innocent” of the homicide and ordered her released from prison on May 9, 2011.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office initially said they would appeal DiReda’s decision, but Attorney General Mark Shurtleff quickly countered that there would be no appeal. A week later, Shurtleff reversed himself, saying an appeal was needed to prevent establishment of a “fatally flawed” legal precedent.
Tuesday the AG’s Office is expected to file its appeal with the Utah Supreme Court.
The AG’s Office has questioned whether DiReda had sufficient proof of “clear and convincing evidence” regarding Brown’s innocence.
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HB307 » Factual Innocence Amendments
Sponsor Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden » Dee says his bill “tightens things up a little” in Utah’s 2008 Factual Innocence statute by clarifying certain language.
Scott Reed with the Attorney General’s Office said the clarifications ensure that any evidence brought to a factual innocence hearing is clearly new and not a rehashing or second-guessing of the trial evidence.
Opponents of the bill say the amendments to the bill leave out language that gives a judge the discretion to consider evidence that should have been found at the time of the trial, as well as new evidence.
The bill, as is stands, could negatively affect cases like that of Debra Brown, where a judge relied on both types of evidence, opponents say. On Friday Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, proposed adding language that addresses the opponents’ concerns.
The bill is currently on hold on the House floor.
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Coping with her new-found personal freedom has been a daunting novelty.
"Getting up that first morning and having choice," she adds. "I was blown away by a lot of things. Just figuring out little decisions. I was in my room for over an hour changing my clothes because I could."
It’s been nine months since Brown, 54, was released from the Utah State Prison by 2nd District Judge Michael DiReda, who found her factually innocent of the November 1993 shooting death of her friend and employer, Lael Brown (no relation).
Brown’s murder case was the first to be revisited under a 2008 statute allowing convicts to challenge the facts of their cases when new evidence is discovered, even if there is no new DNA evidence.
Brown wants to move on and leave her past behind. But the Attorney General’s Office is challenging DiReda’s decision to set her free, questioning whether the judge had sufficient proof of "clear and convincing evidence" to exonerate Brown.
Tuesday is the deadline for the AG’s Office to file their appeal with Utah Supreme Court. The AG’s Office has said they do not want Brown returned to prison if they win the appeal; they merely want prevent the establishment of a "fatally flawed" legal precedent.
Brown remains apprehensive. "I have nightmares where I wake up and I am back in that prison," Brown says.
Starting over:
Brown, the mother of three and grandmother of seven, has been reacquainting herself with the world she left behind: from the mundane activities of riding a bike or taking a bath, to the more challenging adjustments of finding her role in the lives of her grown children.
Playing with her granddaughter recently, Brown turned to see her youngest daughter, Alana, watching them and crying.
"What’s the matter, baby?" Brown remembered asking.
"I’m just seeing what kind of mom you would have been," her daughter responded.
Such moments break your heart, Brown says during a recent interview at her home in Richmond.
Brown suddenly stops talking, distracted by a noise she doesn’t immediately recognize.
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