John Grisham: Jamie Snow Deserves Clemency
- tam
- Aug 31
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 2
PUBLISHED: August 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM CDT Chicago Tribune
During the past 35 years, over 3,500 wrongfully convicted Americans have been exonerated and set free. Combined, they served over 32,000 years in prisons from coast to coast. The injustice is everywhere — no state has managed to avoid wrongful convictions. Some states, though, have miserable histories of convicting innocent people. Not surprisingly, Texas leads the nation.
Illinois is a close second.
The case of Jamie Snow is a shocking example of how the criminal justice system in Bloomington was abused by the very authorities entrusted to uphold the law.
Twenty-four years ago, Jamie was convicted of murdering William Little, a man he never met. Little was working as a gas station attendant in Bloomington when he was killed in a robbery that netted someone less than $100. The real killer remains unidentified and has been free since pulling the trigger in 1991. He will never be caught because the investigation was botched so badly.
At the crime scene, the police found plenty of evidence — blood, fingerprints, bullets and shoe prints — but none of it matched Snow. And for good reason. At the time of the murder, he was at home having dinner with his family on Easter Sunday. Though Jamie readily admits he made mistakes in the past, they never rose to this level and instead made him an easy target for the police to pin the killing on.
The investigation reeks of police incompetence and misconduct. With no motive and no evidence, the original homicide detective finally gave up after six years of chasing dead ends and retired the case as “cold.” But eight years after the murder, two rookie homicide detectives revived the case and began creating evidence.
As so often happens when the police have no leads, they simply create them. This is usually done in one of two ways: either by coercing a false confession or by using bogus witnesses who have plenty of reason to lie.
In Snow’s case, the star witness, Danny Martinez, was inflating his tires at the service station and claimed he saw the killer for one to two seconds, in the dark, as the suspect fled the scene. Later, in a police lineup that included Snow, Martinez identified two others. Over the years, Martinez picked different suspects from photo arrays furnished by the police even after the police showed him multiple photos of Snow. Nearly a decade later, Martinez was suddenly able to identify Snow in a private meeting with the prosecutor. Evidence has revealed that Martinez had several meetings with the prosecutor before making his startling identification.
Another witness, Carlos Luna, was 14 years old and claimed to have identified Snow from around 200 feet away, through a window, in the dark. He later recanted his identification. At the crime scene on the night of the murder, a police officer interviewed Luna and wrote in his notes that it would have been impossible for Luna to identify anyone from so far away.
Another witness used by the prosecution was Gerardo Gutierrez. He was at the gas station 45 minutes before the murder and claimed he saw a suspicious person arguing with the victim. The person had pierced ears and a scar on his chin. Snow had neither.
Once Snow was arrested, some 10 years after the crime, the rookie detectives resorted to one of the worst, but most common, dirty tricks in their trade. They rounded up some informants who testified, under oath of course, that Snow confessed to the killing. At trial, the informants lied again when they assured the jury that their testimony was not the result of a “deal” with the prosecution.
Several informants who testified against Snow later recanted their testimony. Investigation unearthed deals and perks for others. But it was too late. The damage was done. The jury had spoken.
The prosecution of Snow was replete with false testimony. Over 15 witnesses have either changed or recanted their testimony. Many have stated, under oath, that they said what they said because of police coercion.
As in every wrongful conviction, there is enough damning evidence to fill a thick book. A few other pertinent facts: a) after Snow was convicted, his prosecutor had three convictions overturned due to prosecutorial and police misconduct; b) Snow recently received numerous case documents that were withheld before his trial; c) his defense lawyer was later convicted and disbarred because of alcoholism, gambling and mental illness; d) Snow passed a polygraph exam in 1994; e) two of the state’s informants failed polygraph exams, but this was never disclosed to the defense; and f) a co-defendant who allegedly drove the getaway car was put on trial before Snow and found not guilty.
I could go on for pages.
The travesty continues because the court still refuses to allow DNA testing on the evidence found at the crime scene.
Snow’s lawyers are gallantly trying to keep his appeals alive. The Illinois courts have so far sided with the prosecution. The Illinois Supreme Court is currently considering whether to take up his latest appeal. Meanwhile, a clemency request remains pending before Gov. JB Pritzker. All the while, Snow remains wrongly incarcerated 26 years later. Enough is enough.
John Grisham practiced law in a small town in Mississippi for 10 years and also served two terms in the state House of Representatives. In 1990, giving up the law and politics, Grisham began writing at least one book a year and has published more than 30 legal thrillers. He serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries, two organizations dedicated to freeing the wrongly incarcerated.
Grab a copy of Grisham's latest novel The Widow and don't forget to pick up Framed - Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
*Amazon links are commission paid - commissions do not effect author's royalties and all proceeds go directly to support for the campaign to free Jamie Snow.
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