Dallas – When you ask Richard Miles about the passing of former Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, he speaks like a poet. His muse? He spent 15 years in a Texas prison for a crime he did not commit.
“He (Watkins) changed the trajectory of justice,” Miles said. “Prosecutor Watkins was the very embodiment of hope. That's what he did.”
At the Miles of Freedom office in south Dallas, he consults photos on the wall and quickly lists the names of fraternities of formerly incarcerated people who have paid debts owed to society. And he is grateful to the former district attorney for his unprecedented focus on justice, not just convictions.
“I honestly believe that if Attorney Watkins hadn't been elected, I would still be in prison or on the verge of parole or something like that,” Miles said. “So Watkins started a trend that spread across the country. You know, no one had ever heard of the Conviction Integrity Unit, because we only looked at the DA's office as a place of conviction. I didn't see it as freedom.”
Miles of Freedom, an organization he founded after his acquittal, aims to provide support and resources to ex-prisoners trying to build productive lives after prison. It's his way of turning the past into something positive for the present.When it comes to Attorney General Watkins' legacy, he sources from the Bible.
“You know a tree by the fruit it produces,” Miles explains. . ”
