Wrongfully convicted Houma man dies at age 55

Clyde Alton Charles had only eight years to adjust to freedom after being freed from Angola State Penitentiary for a rape he did not commit.

Charles, 55, of Shrimper’s Row in Houma, died peacefully last Wednesday, his sister, Lois Charles Hill, said.

Hill and her siblings – Octave, Wilfred, Arnold, Leo, Marlo, Wilberine, Rochelle and Trudy – worked from March 1981 to December 1999 to free Charles. He was convicted of brutally raping a 26-year-old Houma woman. An all-white jury found Charles, who was black, guilty although the only evidence linking him to the crime was two strands of Caucasian hair that were found on his clothing.

In the fall of 1999, DNA evidence proved Clyde Charles had not committed the crime.

His brother Marlo is currently serving a prison sentence for the crime.

After Charles was jailed, Hill said the family pooled its financial resources to fund appeals in 1982 and 1987, both of which were denied.

In 1990, the family attempted to have DNA testing completed in the case. For years, Hill said the requests were ignored, blocked or denied by the state.

“That’s when we found (attorney) Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project,” Hill said. “He took the case.”

Scheck successfully argued for DNA testing, which subsequently cleared Charles of the rape charge. He was released from Angola on Dec. 17, 1999.

Four months later, however, Marlo Charles was arrested for allegedly raping the woman.

The Charles family continues to support their brother “until we all really know the truth,” Hill said. “But we’re just financially tapped out (to stage an appeal).”

Still visibly angered at the wrongful sentencing, Hill said Terrebonne Parish’s settlement payment of $200,000 did little to repair the damage that was done.

“The state or Terrebonne Parish never once apologized publicly or privately to Clyde for what they did,” she said. “They didn’t repay him for the injustice done against him. They gave him $200,000 and then told him to go away.”

“This week is about my brother,” Hill added. “All I can say is that a man set free after serving 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, on Jan. 7, became truly free indeed.”

Hill was with Clyde Charles days before his death. “He looked at me and said, ‘Lois, I know what you did for me,'” she recalled. “‘I know you stood beside me when many people had fallen along the way. You can’t buy that kind of love.’

“I have my brother’s love and that is the best gift I have ever received,” Hill said.

The Charles family will hold a memorial service Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m., at the Blaine Clay Lodge No. 14 F.M., also known as “Prince Hall,” at 915 Lafayette St. in Houma.

A foundation in Clyde Charles’ name is being created as well, Hill said. For more information on the foundation, call Hill at (985) 446-8100.