Walter was involved with the murder of Ronda Morrison! I swear...
The Arrest
YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!
The Holding
DEATH ROW
Walter is linked to the crime of murdering Ronda Morrison by Ralph Meyers after Ralph Meyers panics when he is arrested for the murder or Vickie Lynn Pittman.
The Regret
I can't testify! It's not right, it's all lies.
With no initial evidence, Walter is arrested on sodomy after being falsely accused by Meyers. He is aggressively arrested on June 7th, 1987 when coming home and is treated poorly and called racial slurs.
The Trial
Like I said before, Walter killed Ronda
Walter is held on death row before his trial. This is typically illegal but was done because of the sheriff's power and the corruption in the justice system. Here, Walter is confronted with a lot of loss, despair, and feels much worse about his odds of fighting the murder charges.
The Verdict
GUILTY!
Walter was only arrested because Meyers lied about his involvement. When Meyers attempts to recant his testimony because of his regret and realization that he shouldn't involve himself in a big crime, he is placed on death row as well while he waits for trial. Due to his past experiences and abuse, he cannot handle this and agrees to do whatever the cops need. This process happens twice.
You'll speak on the stand or else!
The trial is moved to a different county with much less black people. There ends up being only one black person on the jury. Despite Meyers lying, the prosecution is able to get more witnesses linking Walter to the crime even though he wasn't involved and has many alibis. This includes Bill Hooks who links Walter's truck to the crime scene.
Despite inconsistencies in testimony and good arguments from Walter's lawyers, the jury is too biased against Walter. Walter ends up being pronounced guilty.