ATLANTA — A Rome man, wrongly-convicted of murder more than 20 years ago, found out Thursday that he is officially exonerated.
Joey Watkins had been convicted in 2001 of shooting and killing another man in Rome in 2000.
But on Thursday, Floyd County Superior Court Judge Bryan Johnson approved a motion from the District Attorney to dismiss the case, after the Georgia Innocence Project introduced new evidence clearing Watkins that was uncovered since the trial.
Atlanta attorney Noah Pines, and other attorneys who worked with the Georgia Innocence Project on Watkins’ case, called Watkins with the news Thursday.
“I was crying. I had tears in my eyes. It sounded like he was crying,” Pines said. “It's an incredible day to be able to tell somebody, ‘your nightmare that started more than 22 years ago is finally over’.”
Joey Watkins, who was then 19, had been falsely accused of pulling up next to a pickup truck on U.S. 27 just south of downtown Rome — a pickup driven by an acquaintance, Isaac Dawkins, 20 -- and shooting Dawkins in the head, supposedly in a dispute over a woman.
Watkins was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
But the podcast “Undisclosed” later uncovered new evidence -- cell phone records that proved Watkins had been miles away.
Attorney Clare Gilbert with the Georgia Innocence Project told 11Alive in 2017 that that cell tower evidence was suppressed at the trial.
“There was scientific proof through the cell records that Joey could not have committed this crime, and they failed to disclose that or turn that over to the defense,” Gilbert said.
The appeals have taken years.
Finally, Watkins was released on bond in January, and ordered to wear an ankle monitor, to wait for the District Attorney to decide whether to try him again for murder.
On Thursday, Georgia Innocence Project attorneys in Atlanta called Watkins immediately when the judge approved the DA’s motion to dismiss the case; then they drove to Rome to be with Watkins and his family.
“And it's just an incredible, it's an incredible day,” Pines said. “This will be his first Thanksgiving, coming up," since his arrest in 2000. "His first Christmas. He’s got a lot of firsts coming up."
There is no indication from prosecutors whether they will be able to try to find out who killed Isaac Dawkins, to give his family some resolution and justice.
One of the judges in the case had written earlier that evidence all along suggested it might have been a random road rage killer.
But it was never Joey Watkins.
“He's spent a majority of his life in prison,” Pines said, “and the great news now is he gets to live the rest of his life as a free man.”