Faced with the sheriff's stubbornness, Judge Lee Alworth quickly reversed course and denied bail. The defense challenged Judge Alworth and the next two judges to try Clarence. A judge, John Martin, secretly met with DA Keeshan in chambers each morning to determine what his decisions 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 allowed Clarence to stay alive while he was on death row. In 1987, Judge Perry Pickett, the longest-serving district judge in Texas, finally allowed the defense, for the first time ever, to present its evidence and question those involved in order to convict Clarence of a murder he did not had not committed. In January 1989, the nine judges of the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Pickett's ruling. It took another year before Clarence got out of prison free.