Back in 1992, Larry Delmore, Glenn Davis and Terrence Meyers were found guilty of a drive-by shooting and murder in Jefferson Parish and sentenced to life in prison. Their convictions were based solely on an eyewitness with a history of drug abuse, who was later determined to have been absent from the scene. The Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) took on the case, helping to overturn the men’s sentences, but not before they had served 16 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. It took another two years for their cases to be fully exonerated.
Delmore and Davis are among 23 subjects that Baton Rouge artist Becky Gottsegen has portrayed in sculpture in the new show “Exonerated: Portraits of the Wrongfully Convicted.” The exhibition opened March 21 at the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center in downtown Baton Rouge and is on display until May 14.
“We did 16 years for a crime we didn’t commit,” says Delmore, now a small business owner. “The best part about being exonerated is (thinking about) the judge. Through our sentence, he called us ‘nothing’—said we wouldn’t amount to nothing. Not one time since I’ve been home have I been in trouble.”
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The 23 men portrayed by Gottsegen served a total of 644 years for crimes they did not commit.
“What’s most important to me is that so many people know nothing about the horror that’s happened in Louisiana for so many years,” she says. “I think it’s important to draw attention to prosecutorial misconduct. In a lot of cases, they just wanted to find somebody guilty and put them in prison.”
The prosecution hid critical evidence in the case of Delmore, Davis and Meyers. The police had credible information that showed another man was the shooter, according to the Innocence Project.
Gottsegen, a Baton Rouge sculpture artist, started what evolved into “Exonerated” in 2021, when she was commissioned by the Innocence Project New Orleans to sculpt a portrait of Jerome Morgan. Imprisoned at age 17, Morgan served about 20 years and was later exonerated. Today, he serves as one of its board members. Creating the bust was powerful for both Gottsegen and Morgan, as well as for IPNO. It sparked Gottsegen’s desire to make additional sculptured portraits of exonerated subjects.
The original works were created in fired clay. Upon completing each one, Gottsegen gifted the busts to the exonerated men.
The idea for an exhibit featuring all the sculptured portraits emerged last year as a way to bring attention to the Innocence Project’s work, and the frequency of wrongful convictions in the state, she says.
But for the exhibit, Gottsegen didn’t want to ask for the gifted pieces back, at least not permanently. She worked with a silicone mold maker to create molds of each original piece, enabling Gottsegen to make identical duplicate sculptures cast in gypsum cement. For each bust that visitors see in the show, there’s a companion original at home with its muse, she says.
Gottsegen says it’s possible the exhibit could travel to other museums or galleries after the show closes at the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center in mid-May. She’s hoping to add multimedia components in the future that will help bring attention to the men’s stories.
“There’s a lot of interest, and it’s important to make people aware of this situation,” she says.
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Innocence Project New Orleans has freed or exonerated 47 innocent people and 28 who were unjustly sentenced since it formed in 2001.
“Exonerated: Portraits of the Wrongfully Convicted” is on display in the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center’s Shell Gallery now through May 14 at 233 Saint Ferdinand St.
The gallery is open 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is free. Find more info here.