Photo via freebenspencer.com
Did the late Dallas billionaire Ross Perot pay $5,000-$10,000 to a witness in a case that put a man in prison for life? That is what attorneys argued in their case to free 56-year-old Benjamine Spencer, who is set to be released from prison Thursday.
Dallas County District Attorney John Cruzeot recommended that Spencer be released after 34 years because of a wrongful conviction related to a 1987 murder and robbery in West Dallas.
Spencer initially was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years in the death of Jeffrey Young, who was robbed and beaten to death in the 3900 block of Puget Street. But that conviction was thrown out after it came to light that a witness who testified against Spencer didn’t disclose that she received a $580 reward in the case from Crime Stoppers.
In a second trial, Spencer was convicted of robbery and sentenced to life in prison.
His attorneys, Cheryl Wattley and Gary Udashen, filed a document in August stating that Gladys Oliver, the same witness whose testimony resulted in the second trial, received thousands of dollars from Ross Perot, who was a family friend of the victim, between the two trials.
Perot died in 2019.
Two other witnesses have admitted they lied in their testimony against Spencer. One was an eye witness, and the other was a Dallas County jail inmate who said he heard Spencer admitting to the crime.
Other eye witnesses testified that they saw Spencer commit the crime from 300 feet away on a night with no moon. The attorneys say technology can prove that to be humanly impossible.
Centurion Ministrires, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that works to free people wrongfully convicted, picked up the case 21 years ago, and Spencer has always maintained that he is innocent.
His attorneys also offer an alternative suspect in Young’s death: Michael Hubbard, who is already serving a life sentence in Texas for aggravated robbery.
