Inmate's life restored by a woman of faith

by Tucker McQueen, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 13, 2006

Yvonne Zellars thought the man on the other end of the line had a foul mouth. Yet intuition told her Clarence Harrison was a good man despite those four-letter words — and despite the fact that he was serving a life sentence in prison.

Zellars called Harrison after hearing about him from a relative. She said her goal was to offer spiritual advice — to evangelize, not find a boyfriend.

When the Marietta widow visited Harrison, he maintained his innocence. She believed him and went on to work three jobs to pay lawyers trying to free him.

Clarence Harrison and his rescuer and now wife, Yvonne Zellars, walk the halls of Mount Paran Christian School. In addition to working three jobs to pay lawyers fighting to prove Harrison's innocence, Zellars helped him get a job at the school after he was released following 17 years in prison. Photo by Andy Sharp/AJC

Her work paid off six years after they met, when authorities freed him after 17 years in prison in the face of DNA test results that proved he did not attack the 25-year-old Decatur woman who had identified him as her assailant.

Zellars and Harrison got married less than three weeks after his release. They will celebrate their second anniversary Monday.

"I am a God-fearing woman, and the Lord gave me Clarence as an assignment," she said.

Zellars says she can't explain why she believed Harrison other than to say her faith led her to help him.

Harrison remembers their first visit. He told guards he didn't want visitors, but Zellars insisted and he relented.

He said the visitor's room was crowded and he hadn't seen a picture of her.

"But I headed in her direction and walked right to her," he said. "My heart told me who she was."

After they met and started writing each other, Harrison said his bad habits faded away. She sent him Bible verses in the mail and he said he stopped being angry.

"I was institutionally content with where I was," he said. "She changed that. We changed together."

After his release, his wife helped him get a job at Mount Paran Christian School, where she worked in the school cafeteria. Jim Rismiller, director of operations at the Kennesaw school, approached headmaster David Tilley about hiring Harrison as a security guard.

"There was no trepidation for me," Tilley said. "I thought someone has to give this man a chance."

Tilley said he told parents and students at an assembly about the new employee who had been wrongly convicted. Harrison was surprised when the crowd stood and applauded.

He said the school gives him identity. He said people there have supported him during the two years he has worked there and given him a fresh start. He works the evening shift, checking school hallways and grounds.

Harrison likes staying busy. He talks to school and youth groups about staying on the right path. He's starting a paralegal program at Emory University.

His wife is more quiet and prefers staying at home. Marriage is an adjustment for the couple, both 47, but they say they are best friends.

"I am like a bird and want to fly," he said. "She says I am a road runner. But we work it out."

Four years ago, she attended a hearing at which he was denied parole. It seemed like another dead end to him, but not to Zellars.

"They said life is life," she said. "And I said, God has the last say-so."

Harrison remembers Zellars witnessing to him. He decided he didn't want her to be his girlfriend; he wanted her to be his wife. But the chances that would happen were slim.

In 2003, the couple heard about the Georgia Innocence Project, a group that helps free people who are wrongly convicted.

Executive Director Aimee Maxwell was impressed by a letter from Harrison and took on his case. After a worker found missing DNA slides in an evidence box, everything fell together. Harrison was exonerated Aug. 31 two years ago.

The state gave him $100,000 as compensation plus $900,000 that will be paid over 20 years.

Harrison says the blessings of being free outweigh the bad that has happened to him. He is thankful he isn't bitter and is grateful to the woman who continues to support him.

"I was full of pure hate when I met Yvonne. I was at my

lowest," he said. "But she made me believe that I would get out. She gave me hope. She still does."