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Not Guilty: Life After Exoneration
June 2007
Rick Walker
About "Not Guilty: Life After Exoneration"
Rick Walker was a self-employed auto mechanic living in East Palo
Alto. A single father, Walker spent much of his time with his
extended family. Many of them called him 'Mr. Fix-it' or 'The
trouble-shooter.' But in January of '91, Walkers work-a-day life
changed forever. The body of his ex-girlfriend Lisa Hopewell was
found bound, gagged and mutilated. Fingerprints on the duct tape
led to Rahsson Bowers, a 21 year old East Palo Alto drug dealer.
Rahsson Bowers fingered Walker as an accomplice. Walker had worked
on his car in the past. The two stood as co-defendants throughout
a trial for 1st-degree murder. Walker was convicted in December of
1991. He served the next 12 years in maximum security prisons around
California. But new DNA and eye witness testimony proving Rick was
factually innocent resulted in his exoneration in 2003.
The Walkers document every fish they pull out of the water with a
Polaroid, and tack it on "Wall of Fame." Here is Rick with his catch,
just a few days after his release from prison.
In February 2005, we spoke with Cookie Ridolfi, Executive Director
of the Innocence Project at Santa Clara University. We were
interested in documenting the stories of a few exonorees and how
their lives, and their families lives, were impacted by wrongful
convictions. We met with and documented three exonorees: Gloria
Killian, Pete Rose, and Rick Walker. This video details Rick Walker's
story. Over a period of six months, we spent time with Rick and
his family, including a July Fourth weekend stay at the family's
Clearlake home.
Telling Rick's story with photography and audio allowed us to package
the media in different ways to reach a wider audience. Portions of
this project have been aired on public radio, as well as exhibited
in a gallery. We're also interested in putting together an audio
portion for future gallery exhibits, much like the audio tours you
see at museums.
Collaborating as a team required lots of communication both in the
field and out. In the field, there were moments when we needed both
audio and photo for a specific scene. A microphone in the shot or
the shutter clicking over good audio were constant concerns and
required in-the-moment negotiating to avoid. Matching the audio and
images together was probably our greatest challenge.
A portion of Rick's story was aired on KALW in April 2007.
Rick lost almost 15 years of industry knowledge while he was in prison.
Tech Info
Vance photographed with a Canon EOS 20D. Evan recorded with a Sony
MZ-R70 mini disc and a crappy Radio Shack microphone that he just
recently threw away and replaced with a Shure SM58. He edited all
in Pro Tools and put together this video presentation in iMovie.
About Evan Roberts
Evan is a freelance audio producer living in San Francisco.
He is a graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
About Vance Jacobs
Vance began his career as a photojournalist for news publications.
His clients include Nike, The New York Times, Hewlett-Packard,
Yahoo!, USA Today, Accenture, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
among others. Vance's work has been honored in the Communication
Arts Photography Annual and the Pictures of the Year (POY) competition,
as well as being exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the
world.
Links
Audio Heirlooms
Vance Jacobs Photography
Santa Clara University, Innocence Project, Northern California Branch
The Innocence Project
Life After Exoneration Program
KALW
Additional Support for this work provided by
with funding from
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