BRIAN ROSS
But it would take 20 years for Wilson and his lawyer to prove that. In February of 1983, at the age of 54, Wilson was sentenced to 52 years in prison, expected to die there.
EDWARD WILSON
The sentence was life. You know, 52 years.
BRIAN ROSS
You thought you were dead?
EDWARD WILSON
Yeah. I thought I was gone, yeah.
BRIAN ROSS
He was first sent to solitary confinement at the high security federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
EDWARD WILSON
At the time, it had replaced Alcatraz. We were locked down 23, 24 hours a day in a little cell.
BRIAN ROSS
For how long?
EDWARD WILSON
For 10 years, 10 years straight. I had a room next, about 20 feet away from the cell, which was 18 by 30. And I would walk 15 minutes one way and do 40 push-ups. Walk 15 minutes the other way and do 40 push-ups. Do this everyday for at least two or three hours. Do 200 or 300 push-ups. And that's what kept my sanity.
BRIAN ROSS
Did you give up at some point?
EDWARD WILSON
Oh, no. You can't give up because at the time, I knew, I knew I was innocent of this thing. I took it, and I said, I'll have my day someday.
BRIAN ROSS
From his cell in Marion, Wilson began to seek government documents, using the Freedom of Information Act. It took 14 years for the government to turn over this internal Justice Department memo, buried in a large stack of other documents.
EDWARD WILSON
This was the smoking gun here.
BRIAN ROSS
In the document, written just five days after the verdict, Justice Department officials acknowledged the CIA affidavit was possibly false and discussed what to do about it.
DAVID ADLER
The subject line of the memo is entitled, "Duty to Disclose Possibly False Testimony." And somebody had hand-written on top of the document that the plain meaning of the word "services" in the affidavit is inaccurate.
BRIAN ROSS
But the Justice Department decided to keep the information secret.
BRIAN ROSS
And this document was not turned over to Wilson's lawyers at the time?
DAVID ADLER
Absolutely not.
BRIAN ROSS
What do you think happened here?
DAVID ADLER
Somebody slipped up and, and never intended for Mr. Wilson to see this document. I think they forgot that if you put someone in solitary confinement or in prison that they don't have a lot to do all day other than to pore through these documents. And I think Mr. Wilson paid a lot more attention to the materials than the people who were responsible for releasing them at the Justice Department.
BRIAN ROSS
It was that one document which led to Adler's appointment by a federal judge in Houston to help Wilson pursue his case, an assignment for which Adler had unique qualifications.
DAVID ADLER
I'm a former CIA officer. I remembered the case from when I was in high school. I remembered Wilson's name being brought up when I was going through training at the agency.
BRIAN ROSS
Were you skeptical?
DAVID ADLER
Very. Very. I'm just not a big believer in intentional government conspiracies. Mr. Wilson was claiming this was an intentional effort. So, I was skeptical, yes.
BRIAN ROSS
Since then, Adler has discovered dozens of Justice Department and CIA documents that he says prove the key affidavit in the Wilson case was false and that many in the government knew it.
DAVID ADLER
I'm not skeptical anymore. I think the documents are about as clear as they could be that this was an intentional, purposeful effort to conceal the truth from the judge, from the jury, from Mr. Wilson and his defense lawyers, and, and from the public.
BRIAN ROSS
A federal judge has now overturned Wilson's Houston conviction, saying "the government knowingly used false evidence against him." And the judge has identified about two dozen government lawyers who actively participated in failing to disclose the false evidence. Many who went on to become some of the most prominent men in legal circles today. Their actions, 22 years ago, in the case of Ed Wilson, are finally coming to light.
(Commercial Break)
BRIAN ROSS
The conviction of Ed Wilson was a big victory for the Justice Department.
