Innocence Project of Texas proves Midland man’s innocence after 24 years in prison

LUBBOCK, Texas — One day in February 1998 changed Garland “Butch” Martin’s life forever. Not only did his family die in a house fire, but he was charged for a crime he didn’t commit and would spend the next two decades in prison. This all came to an end 24 years later, when the Innocence Project of Texas was able to prove Martin’s innocence .

Martin’s wife, Marcia, their one-year-old daughter and Marcia’s three-year-old son died after their home caught fire in 1998. Even though Martin was at a job site twenty minutes away from the house, he was tried and convicted in 1999 on three capital murder charges.

At the time, science indicated that the fire was intentionally set and the last person to see the family alive was the father of the family, Butch Martin.

“Martin protested his innocence the entire time. There was never any kind of motive but nevertheless, the jury couldn’t ignore the science, and they found him guilty,” Deputy Director of the Innocence Project of Texas, Allison Clayton said. “The science now indicates that this was just a tragic, horrible, accidental house fire.”

Martin was seen as the one who committed the crime, until Clayton and her students with the Innocence Clinic at Texas Tech School of Law stepped in and proved his innocence.

“You finally feel like you’ve gotten justice for somebody, you finally feel like our system has gotten something right in a case where it’s gotten everything else wrong,” Clayton said.

Martin was exonerated on May 22 this year, which was a huge step in the right direction, but according to Clayton, also a drop in the bucket when it comes to wrongful convictions.

“There are 564,000 convictions in Texas. That’s a 10% rate of error. That’s almost 6,000 wrongful convictions in one state and one year,” Clayton said.

Now, in 2024, the innocent man is attempting to pick up the pieces of his life, which isn’t easy after enduring the wrongful conviction – but he isn’t doing it alone. While Clayton and her students move onto their next case, they’ll never forget their new friend, Butch Martin. According to Clayton, they talk on the phone almost every day. She also said Martin has some artistic talents that he’s continuing to dive into.

“He’s going to try to make the most out of whatever life has in store for him,” Clayton said.

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