Faced with the sheriff's persistence, Judge Lee Alworth promptly backtracked and denied bail. The defense recused Judge Alworth and also the next two judges to try Clarence. A judge, John Martin, met secretly with District Attorney Keeshan every morning in chambers to set what his sentences would be for that day in court. In early 1981, Clarence was transferred to death row at Huntsville State Prison (Gores, 1991). Only two stays won by the defense kept Clarence alive while he was on death row. In 1987, Judge Perry Pickett, the senior district judge in Texas, finally allowed the defense, for the first time, to present its evidence and question those involved to convict Clarence of a murder he did not commit. In January 1989, the nine judges of the Texas Court of Appeals upheld Judge Pickett's ruling. It took another year for Clarence to walk free from prison