Posted on 10/16/2021 10:39:39 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Special Prosecutor Thomas Plymale dismissed all charges against Philip Barnett, who spent 10 years in prison for a crime DNA testing proved he did not commit. Charges were also dropped against his co-defendants Nathan Barnett, Philip’s brother, and Justin Black. A fourth defendant, Brian Dement, accepted a sentence modification of time served. All four men were convicted of the 2002 murder of a young woman in Cabell County, W.Va.
“Today is a great day for the Barnett family; Philip and Nathan’s names are finally cleared. The DNA results from the crime scene evidence, which excluded Philip and Nathan and matched a convicted sex offender, prove what the Barnetts have always known: They are innocent and had nothing to do with this murder, ” said Adnan Sultan, staff attorney with the Innocence Project.
In August 2018, Philip Barnett was released on bail while his habeas petition based on new exculpatory DNA evidence was pending. Nathan Barnett had been previously released in 2015, and Mr. Black was released on parole in 2018. Dement was released from jail yesterday.
“I couldn’t be happier to be able to put this behind me—for my brother and for our family,” said Philip Barnett. “You never think that this can happen to you until it does. We have missed out on so many things and we have had this hanging over us, but not anymore. Today, we are truly free.”
A Cold Case In 2002, Deanna Crawford’s body was discovered in an isolated region of Cabell County, W.Va. Crawford had been strangled, beaten, and likely raped. The case went cold for five years, until police arrested Brian Dement on an unrelated charge. Dement, who had a substance use disorder at the time, was interrogated for eight hours. Police said he gave three conflicting statements implicating himself, Philip and Nathan Barnett, and the brothers’ friend Justin Black. All four men were convicted of Crawford’s murder in 2008, even though no physical evidence connected any of them to the crime and Dement’s “confessions” did not comport with the facts of the crime scene.
Tammy Barnett, Philip and Nathan’s mother, has been a relentless advocate for her sons. She told the Innocence Project, “Today my children are finally free. We, as a family, are free. The past 14 years have been the most trying and heartbreaking of our lives. Both of my sons had so much stolen from them — from us. No parent should have to endure such a nightmare — no person should have to experience this horror of wrongful conviction. Today, we begin to heal and move forward together.”
The DNA Testing In May 2018, the Barnetts’ and Black’s defense attorneys received results of DNA comparisons conducted by the West Virginia State Crime Laboratory that revealed a single DNA profile on a cigarette butt found at the crime scene. The profile matched DNA obtained from semen on the victim’s pants. According to the CODIS federal DNA database, the profile also belonged to a man who lived in Huntington, W.Va., at the time and who had been convicted of sexually assaulting a minor. The DNA excluded all four of the men originally convicted of the crime.
The following month, in June 2018, attorneys filed a joint supplemental motion presenting the results of the newly discovered DNA comparison.
Since 1989, there have been 375 DNA exonerations in the United States and 165 actual assailants have been identified. Those perpetrators were ultimately convicted of 154 additional violent crimes.
The Guilty Plea Problem After Philip and Nathan Barnett were convicted of murder in 2008, they appealed the decision. In 2010, the West Virginia Supreme Court reversed their convictions, based on the fact that they were not afforded a fair trial, and ordered a new trial. The Barnetts both ultimately accepted a Kennedy plea to avoid the prospect of a second trial for a crime they didn’t commit. A Kennedy plea — West Virginia’s equivalent of an Alford plea — allows the defendant to maintain their innocence and receive a lesser sentence, while acknowledging that the State has enough evidence for a conviction. Although the Barnetts knew they were innocent, the reality of another trial and potential for a more severe sentence felt too risky.
The current plea bargain system in America focuses on securing convictions, often with little regard for whether someone is truly guilty or innocent. When faced with a plea deal that assures a substantially reduced sentence or even freedom, many innocent people accept guilty pleas rather than gamble with the possibility of decades in prison or, worse, a death sentence. Of the nation’s 375 DNA-based exonerations, 44 people have pleaded guilty to serious crimes they did not commit. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 591 of the 2,849 known exonerees (whose innocence was proven by DNA or other means) pleaded guilty.
Philip Barnett is represented by Adnan Sultan and Tara Thompson of the Innocence Project and Rich Weston of Weston Robertson; Nathan Barnett is represented by Melissa Giggenbach and Devon Unger of the West Virginia Innocence Project, and Jason Goad of McClure Goad, PLLC; Mr. Black is represented by Josh Tepfer and Gayle Horn of the Exoneration Project and Lonnie Simmons of DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC; and Mr. Dement is represented by Greg Swygert of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions and Abe Saad of Glazer Saad Anderson L.C.
Well, it’s a happy day because they are exonerated.
It’s not so great to realized nearly twenty years of your
life are gone, and you’re not getting them back.
Some idiots out there will also never believe they were
innocent, so there’s that too.
"Exonerees" has a political ring to it, as a jury trial wouldn't have the smell of Soros' lawyers.
Some, like me, aren't buying it.
I.P. always forgets to mention that a murderer's DNA is found just 20% of the time at the crime scene.
I.P. also forgets to mention that the original prosecutors, investigators, and jurors never comment because that would open them up to a life time of perpetual civil lawsuits.
I.P. also never links to the full original trial transcript, which means readers cannot study ALL the evidence first hand.
The triggering events for "Innocence" are almost always exactly the same - no DNA at the crime scene, plus, an essential witness recants, dies, or is discredited in some way.
It is completely possible that the men who were released were NOT guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
But innocent?
Maybe one time in a hundred.
The new DNA evidence showed another man was guilty of the crime.
The men released are almost certainly innocent.
This isn’t just a “press release”. This story has been covered extensively in many local press outlets for years.
You are right. It is mostly a "Donation Request."
If the Innocence Project ever changes its name to "Not Guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt," I might donate to it myself.
So none of this evidence was available in 2002? They knew how to do dna profiles then...Hell, Forensic Files shows crimes older than that that did.
#8. One problem is if the DNA of the later actual criminal has not been entered into COTUS, then it will usually not be found until them, unless they use the “genetic profile” method of finding near-matching DNA listees (family members) and/or the DNA genetic facial/body reconstruction methods (some one TV last night.
The Innocence Project is good for us and you.
Understood. But the dna found didn’t match the convicted either...something the defense should have [and maybe did?] mentioned.
Just asking...not familiar with this particular case.
Correct.
“The results of the new DNA testing excluded all four men and implicated a new perpetrator, Timothy Smith. He is a convicted sexual felon who was not previously considered for Crawford’s murder, but the forensic evidence puts him at the crime scene.”
https://www.law.wvu.edu/news/2019/05/21/clinic-clients-conviction-overturned
More.
“On November 18, 2015, Mr. Black filed a motion for post-conviction DNA testing pursuant to West Virginia Code section 15-2B-14 (eff. 2004). The motion requested DNA testing on (1) the sexual assault kit; (2) the leopard print pants; (3) Ms. Crawford’s fingernail scrapings; and (4) an empty beer can, Skoal snuff can, five cigarettes, and a glass mug recovered by evidence technicians. Following the filing of the motion, the Barnett brothers filed a motion to join Mr. Black’s motion for post-conviction DNA testing, which the court granted. By order entered September 29, 2016, the court granted the motions for DNA testing.8
Pursuant to the court’s orders, the selected evidence was sent to Bode Cellmark Forensics’ (”Bode”) laboratory for advanced forensic DNA testing utilizing technologies that were not in existence at the time of the original DNA testing. Bode issued a report on August 22, 2017, finding Ms. Crawford’s vaginal swabs were inconclusive for male DNA, and her rectal and oral swabs, as well as her pubic hair combings, had no male DNA present. However, Bode issued a second report in October of 2017 that revealed a single-source, Combined DNA Index System (”CODIS”) eligible Y-STR DNA profile derived from both semen and skin cells from the crotch of the leopard print pants. The single source profile excluded Mr. Dement, Mr. Black, and the Barnett brothers as donors. The same DNA profile also matched a Basic brand cigarette butt recovered at the crime scene.
The DNA profile was uploaded into the CODIS system to determine whether a match could be found. On December 18, 2017, the Cabell County Prosecuting Attorney informed Mr. Black and the Barnett brothers that a positive match to the DNA profile had been found. Specifically, the single source of DNA belonged to a convicted and recently incarcerated felon named Timothy Smith (”Mr. Smith”). Mr. Smith’s criminal history includes a 2011 conviction for unlawful sexual activity with a thirteen-year-old girl in the State of Ohio. Mr. Smith is an admitted frequenter of prostitutes and drug abuser.
In February of 2018, the WVSP and a private investigator separately interviewed Mr. Smith at Chillicothe Correctional Institution in Ohio. Mr. Smith stated that he “never `hung out’ with younger boys during that time” and that he did not know Mr. Dement, Mr. Black, or the Barnett brothers. Moreover,
[859 S.E.2d 739]
despite his DNA being found on the crotch of her pants, Mr. Smith denied knowing Ms. Crawford.9 He further claimed that he did not recognize a picture of her and asserted that he had never had a sexual relationship with her. The WVSP informed Mr. Smith that his DNA was found at the crime scene, but he denied any involvement in the murder. Mr. Smith also told police that “he never harmed anyone and that no one in his past would say he was a violent person.” Conversely, both the WVSP and the private investigator interviewed two of Mr. Smith’s numerous ex-wives, and both described Mr. Smith as a domestic abuser. Mrs. Craft was married to Mr. Smith during the summer of 2002. Mrs. Craft indicated that, when she was married to Mr. Smith, he was “extremely violent” with her. Mrs. Craft further stated that less than a week before she saw television news reports of Ms. Crawford’s death, Mr. Smith came home with blood on his hands and in possession of money with blood on it. When Mrs. Craft inquired about the blood, Mr. Smith responded by saying “something about hitting someone and killing them.” Another ex-wife, Mrs. Ford, recounted similar physical abuse. Mrs. Ford recalled an incident where Mr. Smith threatened to kill her “like he had killed a prostitute.” Mr. Smith told her that “he had hit [a prostitute] over the head and that [his cousin] Jerry Lee Perry strangled the victim.” They then “hid her body in the hills.””
https://www.leagle.com/decision/inwvco20210615f07
So did the prosecutor end up with a high-paying political job partially due to this case? If so, he should be punished. The law has become a tool for dishonest people to game the system. Proof? The Congress of the USA.
Exonoration is not a finding of innocence--including possible participants who left cigarette butts (which have been difficult to extract DNA from in the past). The "Exonerator" or "Exoneratrix" nailed a "sexual predator", who may have tossed it from a car. (For all we know).
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/05/massachusetts-crime-lab-houston-forensic-science.amp
Exonoration is not a finding of innocence--including possible participants who left cigarette butts (which have been difficult to extract DNA from in the past).
The "Exonerator" or "Exoneratrix" nailed a "sexual predator", who may have tossed it from a car. (For all we know).
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/05/massachusetts-crime-lab-houston-forensic-science.amp
Exonoration is not a finding of innocence--including possible participants who left cigarette butts (which have been difficult to extract DNA from in the past).
The "Exonerator" or "Exoneratrix" nailed a "sexual predator", who may have tossed it from a car. (For all we know).
That’s the whole problem with the Innocence Project. They select a narrative that is narrow and seek to then prove it.
The victim was likely raped. Not absolutely a guarantee. The potential rape and murder aren’t also guaranteed to be linked.
They did something with the Central Park 5. The original accusations never claimed the teens raped the victim. However, because they can’t find their semen on the body, groups like this declared them innocent. Nevermind that holding someone down, which is what they were accused of doing, is unlikely to leave semen.
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