Free at last: Dismissal ends Jimmie Gardner’s 27-year prison ordeal

ALBANY — As he sat through 27 years of a hell that was not of his own making, Jimmie Gardner stayed physically and mentally sharp in the most adverse of circumstances, living for the day that he’d hear one single word.

“Dismissed.”

Gardner watched others around him come and go, some giving up hope and becoming institutionalized, others dying out as the “terrible food, terrible medicine, terrible conditions” at West Virginia’s Mount Olive Correctional Complex took their toll.

On Sept. 6, though, Gardner heard the word he’d lived more than half his life waiting on. With the members of his law team around him and two days away from a retrial on sexual assault and robbery charges that could have sent him back to prison, the state of West Virginia dismissed all charges against Gardner.

Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, Gardner was free at last.

“I can’t tell you what that feeling was like,” said Gardner, a Bronwood native who’d spent 27 years of his life in prison after being convicted of crimes he maintained throughout his ordeal that he did not commit. He was a pitcher in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system when he was questioned about a brutal sexual assault/robbery that took places, of all things, while Gardner’s team was playing a baseball game.

The state of West Virginia’s chief serologist, Fred Zain, linked Gardner to the crime through bloodwork, even after the victim said her attacker was a short, light-skinned black man. Gardner is around 6-foot-2 and has dark skin.

“I never lost faith because I knew I was innocent,” Gardner said. “I never allowed myself mentally to accept the fact that I was locked up in prison. When you’re not guilty, you can do that.”

Gardner kept his body in peak physical condition while in prison, and he never allowed himself to grow idle. He played sports, studied — earning degrees in restaurant management, general studies and business management while locked away — and stayed abreast of world events. He kept up with ever-changing technology, and he never stopped seeking the opportunity to prove his innocence.

After being disappointed by a few court-appointed attorneys whose efforts on his behalf were perfunctory at best, and 13 petitions for a review of his case, as well as written appeals all the way to the White House, Gardner finally found a judge willing to take a look at his case.

Meanwhile, Zain’s bloodwork became suspect. An investigation led to the discovery that he’d given false testimony in a number of cases. That shocking news helped pave the way to a review of Gardner’s case by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, who wrote in a March 25 ruling that he was “shocked” that Gardner’s case had not been reviewed and castigated Zain for “a pattern of misconduct” representing “egregious violations of the right of a defendant to a fair trial.”

Goodwin ordered the state of West Virginia to release Gardner and either grant him a new trial or dismiss charges against him.

Gardner came home to Southwest Georgia on April 1 and enjoyed time with his family before heading back to West Virginia to prepare for his new trial. At the fateful Sept. 6 pretrial meeting, state prosecutors dismissed the charges against Gardner, rendering him a free man.

“I was stunned, elated, overjoyed,” Gardner said when he heard the magic word. “I cried tears of joy, then I called my mother to tell her I was coming home for good.”

A lesser man might gloat under the circumstances or even rail at a criminal justice system that would keep a man in prison for more than half of his life without granting the opportunity for proper judicial relief guaranteed by the Constitution. Gardner will have none of that.

“I have no room in my life for bitterness, for anger,” he said. “It was through the grace of God that I was able to go through this and come out intact, and I’ve spent my time (since being released) praising God, not cursing my fate. Anger causes pain and anguish. I don’t allow such negativity to live rent-free in my head.”

Since being granted his freedom, Gardner has returned home to rejoice with the family that never gave up hope that he would be released from prison. He has an assistant to help him plan his strategy and to schedule speaking engagements that have become increasingly more frequent as word of his ordeal spread.

Gardner is also fully aware that some of his fellow former inmates whose convictions were based largely on evidence by Zain, who died while under investigation for giving false evidence, have received multimillion-dollar settlements from the state of West Virginia since their convictions were overturned. He insists, though, that seeking such compensation is not on his radar at this time.

“My compensation comes from having my name cleared,” Gardner said. “I’ve been told there will be litigation on my behalf, but that’s not the focal point of my life. My reward is talking to youth groups and being able to tell them, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ My future plans revolve around trying to give back, trying to encourage young people to make right choices.

“It may sound ironic, but I believe I was chosen by God to go through this ordeal. I reminded myself constantly that the Word said we should ‘be humble, be ready, remain a servant and know that God is God.’ I believe that everything happens in its time, and that time is of God. I never lost faith. I never quit believing. And now I’ve been delivered … and it’s a beautiful thing.”