Man wrongfully convicted by judicial candidate speaks out

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Hugo Holland, the former Caddo Parish prosecutor, is running for the only judicial district judge seat up for election in the parish.

According to reporting by the Louisiana Illuminator, judges found Holland hid evidence in two death penalty cases. He has been accused of racism and was forced out of the district attorney’s office for filing false paperwork.

Corey Williams, one of the men Holland prosecuted, says voters need to know about it.

“We just need an impartial judge on the seat. And I know, without a doubt, Hugo Holland would not be impartial,” Williams said.

Williams has firsthand experience with Holland dating back to the 1990s. Williams feels Holland should not be on the bench.

“If he got the power to withhold evidence on criminal defendants, you know, as assistant DA, he’s way more dangerous sitting on the bench,” Williams said.

The claim about hiding evidence is backed up in reporting by the Louisiana Illuminator. Judges found Holland withheld evidence in at least two death penalty cases in the parish.

“In 1998, I was arrested, falsely accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and tried as an adult, and eventually was sentenced to the death penalty for, like I said, a crime I didn’t commit,” Williams said.

Williams, just 10 days past his 16th birthday, was found guilty of killing a pizza driver in Queensborough. Holland was the prosecutor in the case. Williams was sentenced to death, making him one of the youngest men on death row at the time at age 16.

“To be tried as an adult, it was something I didn’t understand at the time, and it took years to fully understand exactly, you know, what I was going through,” Williams said.

His death sentence was later thrown out because of his mental disability. He spent 20 years locked up, four of those on death row. Williams says what hurt most was what Holland openly said about him at trial.

“And Hugo Hollins made a comment describing me as a dog and that I needed to be put down despite my age,” Williams said.

Court records back up Williams’ claim. The group Promise of Justice Initiative, which worked on Williams’ case, shared the transcript. In it, Holland tells the jury, “If the dog bites you once, you might keep it. If it bites you twice, you shouldn’t keep it. But when it bites you hard the third time, you get rid of it.”

Years later, Williams’ lawyers say Holland hid proof he was innocent. Williams was released from Angola after spending more than 20 years behind bars.

Judges found Holland hid evidence in two other death penalty cases, involving Bobby Hampton and David Brown. Both remain on death row.

The KSLA News 12 team reached out to Holland about the statements made against him via email directly to his office. A reporter also stopped by his office in Webster Parish to speak with him. A person who works in his office said Holland was out for the rest of the day at the time of broadcast.