Las Vegas man freed after 23 years eager for ‘second chance at life’

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Published Saturday, July 1, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Updated Saturday, July 1, 2017 | 9:51 p.m.

In his 42 years of life, DeMarlo Berry has spent more time in prison for a fatal shooting he had no part in than he has being able to roam freely, sleep privately or simply gaze and smile at his wife at his pleasure.

But when asked Friday morning — his first day as a free man in 23 years — about spending most of his adult life behind bars, Berry smiles and softly responds, “That’s what everybody says, but I feel like I still have a lot of adult life to live.”

At a Las Vegas law firm, Berry, flanked by his wife, Odelia — a childhood friend he wed seven years ago — and legal team, spoke to reporters about his ordeal that began in 1994 when another man pulled the trigger during a robbery, taking the life of Charles Burkes, a 32-year-old Carl’s Jr. manager slain outside the restaurant.

Through the years, Berry resolutely denied any involvement in the crime. His misfortune was standing on a nearby sidewalk at the time of the shooting.

But when Steven Jackson fled the scene after he fired off the fatal round, witnesses confused Berry with the suspect.

This was due to “transference,” said Jennifer Springer, a lawyer with the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center. “Transference occurs when a witness mistakenly identifies the perpetrator as someone who appears familiar, but is innocent. The eyewitnesses in the parking lot may have recognized Mr. Berry in the photo lineup because they saw him in the parking lot among the other witnesses.”

The extensive battle that followed his 1995 life-in-prison conviction included Jackson officially admitting to the crime, a “jailhouse snitch” recanting his fabricated story about Berry confessing, multiple appeals, and a dedicated legal team interceding on Berry's behalf. A judge this week signed off on his release.

Up until last year, when the Clark County District Attorney’s Office’s newly formed Conviction Review Unit began probing the case, prosecutors had insisted Berry was guilty.

But after evaluating the CRU’s findings, prosecutors decided to no longer oppose Berry’s request for conviction relief, a decision the DA’s office announced Thursday.

Berry on Friday morning wore a blue denim shirt and jeans, and white sneakers. He said he was eager to be able to sit at home, enjoy some solitude and read a book — he was most looking forward to sleeping and perhaps a steak-and-fries meal.

After his 6 a.m. release, he returned to a hometown he didn’t recognize — the highways, even the buildings, have undergone a drastic transformation from when he was 19 years old.

Being in shackles knowing he was innocent at first felt temporary, but then time passed. And although his “stubborn” personality helped him cling to hope over the years, there's a nagging sense that prisoners are perceived as being at fault — even when he knew it wasn’t the case.

So he made the best of it.

He trained to become a barber, a career he aspires to (he has a job lined up as well as further schooling), and had a “spotless” discipline record, which validated his claims of innocence.

He also married Odelia Berry in a Nevada prison visiting room seven years ago. As he spoke, Berry watched him with a wide smile, a custom, gold chain adorning her neck with the word “amazing,” which she said aptly described the eventful day.

Jensie Anderson, legal director at the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center, sees the couple as inspirational soulmates.

“These are two of the strongest people you’ll ever hope to meet,” Anderson said.

Berry said he’s not angry at the injustice of serving time wrongfully — he's just focused on getting on with his "second chance at life.”

The process to free Berry was lengthy. Attorney Samantha Wilcox in 2011, as an extern for the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center during law school, first took a look at the case.

Berry’s “substance of his innocence claim” was identical to the one he presented in trial, and Wilcox spotted holes in the prosecutors’ allegations. More attorneys were brought in and she eventually got a written confession from Steven Jackson, who was serving life in prison for a separate 1996 homicide.

When she showed up to visit Jackson in a California prison, Wilcox recalls him saying, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

But still, prosecutors were skeptical of Jackson’s story — was he trying to help Berry because he had nothing to lose?

It wasn’t until the Clark County Conviction Review Unit finally agreed to aggressively vet Jackson’s confession — beginning last year — that prosecutors determined that he hadn’t been in contact with Berry and that he knew specific details of the slaying only the shooter would know.

During the time, a jail informant also recanted a tale he had told about Berry confessing to the murder.

“We’re so grateful that we’re sitting here today and that the district attorney ultimately agreed and did the right thing after these many years,” Wilcox said.

And although Jackson’s actions are what sent Berry’s life into turmoil, it was his confession that helped greatly. “I thank him a lot,” Berry said.

It took “courage and honor to step up and free DeMarlo,” lawyer Craig Coburn said. “We should remember that.”

On Thursday evening, Berry was in a cell ready for lockdown when fellow inmates began banging on a door, telling them he was on TV news — which alerted Berry to his impending freedom. They started shaking his hand. And then he went to look for himself. “You’re on TV right now,” someone said to him. “Yeah, that’s me.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify the sequence of events. | (July 1, 2017)