August 14
NEW MEXICO:
Plea in '89 Slaying Eases Parents' Pain
Dane Clark Collins and his wife, Brenda, endured their 22-year-old
daughter's 1989 Santa Fe rape and slaying alone, as outcasts, after
Collins was falsely accused of the crime, Collins' attorney said.
"Nobody would want to associate with them," Santa Fe attorney Dan Cron
said of what the Collinses had to endure. "Nobody wanted to hire them to
jobs. People would walk on the other side of the street if they saw them
coming. People who they thought were their friends ceased contact."
Collins, a former LANL employee, lost his security clearance and job at
the lab" then later, his home, after being falsely charged with his
stepdaughter Tracy Barker's death, said Cron. Collins spent 5 months in
jail.
"They left Santa Fe because the presumption in town was that Dane was
guilty," Cron said of the Collinses.
Now, 16 years later, Tracy Barker's newly accused killer is about to plead
guilty in connection with her death.
And the Collinses will finally find out what happened to their daughter.
As part of the plea bargain, Chris McClendon has agreed to tell how Barker
wound up strangled, raped and bludgeoned under a tree west of Richards
Avenue near the Villa Linda Mall on May 2, 1989, Cron said.
McClendon, a former Santa Fe ski instructor, currently is serving 2
consecutive life prison terms in Hobbs after being convicted of kidnapping
and raping a 24-year-old waitress at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.
Last year, McClendon was charged with raping and murdering Barker after
DNA evidence collected from the scene of Barker's killing matched
McClendon's DNA profile in a national DNA database.
He is scheduled to plead guilty Monday before Santa Fe District Judge
Michael Vigil.
Cron credited Santa Fe Police Detective Tony Trujillo and State Police
agent Shane Arthur with keeping Barker's case alive.
In exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty against him for
Barker's death, McClendon has agreed to tell what happened to Barker.
The Collinses "told me that the most important thing for them is to know
what happened," Cron said.
"Up to this point the family knows nothing in terms of how he (McClendon)
came to have contact with her that night, and the family knows nothing
about the details of the last hours of her life," Cron said.
'Hasty prosecution'
At the time of her death, Barker worked at a Pizza Hut, and was the mother
of a 1-year-old son, Michael. The Collinses raised Michael after moving
out of state. Cron said at the Collinses' request, he would not reveal
where the family now lives, and that they did not wish to be interviewed
for this story.
Cron said that by the time of Barker's killing in 1989, a number of brutal
homicides of young women in Santa Fe between the ages of 18 and 25 had
gone unsolved, creating community pressure on then-Santa Fe District
Attorney Chet Walter. That pressure contributed to Walter's "hasty
prosecution" of Collins, Cron said.
Current Santa Fe District Attorney Henry Valdez, who worked under Walter,
disagreed with Cron's assessment that outside pressure could have affected
Walter's decision to charge Collins. Walter is now dead.
"Chet believed at the time that there was evidence to charge (Collins),"
Valdez said.
'Incomplete' testing
In October 1989, the state dismissed its case against Collins because of
new information and genetic testing that was called "incomplete" at the
time by Walter.
Valdez said he's glad DNA technology has progressed so that today, Collins
would have been exonerated more quickly after Barker's death.
Cron said that Brenda Collins now "wants all the people who wrongly
believed that Dane was guilty to know that he was always innocent."
"Nothing about the case either forensically or from a common-sense view
pointed to Dane," Cron said.
Collins, whose brother and father were ministers, is currently employed as
a machinist, Cron said.
(source: Albuquerque Journal)
USA:
Commentary: Why can't wrongly convicted show proof of their innocence?
[Editor's Note: Molly Ivins is currently on vacation. This column was
first published January 2000.]
Have you noticed that the system of justice in this country is shutting
down, piece by piece by piece? We have long noted the deleterious effects
of "tort reform" here in Texas, where insurance companies are ever bolder,
and injured workers and consumers have fewer and fewer rights. But there
is a shutdown in criminal justice, as well.
A "Frontline" documentary on PBS, "The Case for Innocence," gives the most
chilling case histories in a stupid and tragic trend in criminal justice.
DNA identification, which has become more sophisticated by the year, is
the greatest advance in criminal detection since the fingerprint. It has
enabled the system to put away criminals who otherwise would have gotten
off scot-free and to find perps years after the crime when their DNA shows
up after an unrelated arrest. Short of a truth serum, this is the best
thing that could happen for the criminal justice system.
The problem is, DNA evidence sometimes shows that the system messed up and
nailed the wrong person for a crime. In fact, it happens depressingly
often.
The notorious inability of prosecutors to admit that they are ever wrong
is a fact of life. What is far more horrifying is the refusal of judges
and courts to look at evidence that proves innocence. Can you imagine how
that must feel - to be in prison for a crime you didn't commit and to
finally be able to prove it, only to have a court refuse to consider the
evidence?
Most of this is a consequence of a noxious law that Congress rushed
through after the Oklahoma City bombing.
Called the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the law
was aimed at the ability of federal judges to second-guess state courts
and at the ability of prisoners to file endless habeas corpus claims
challenging the constitutionality of their convictions. ("Habeas corpus"
is a Latin phrase meaning "you have the body" and goes back hundreds of
years in common law as well as being in the Constitution. It means that if
you can show you were unfairly tried, you have a remedy through the
courts.)
True, the right has been abused for nitpicking purposes by some lawyers,
but to effectively abolish the right is a dreadful abrogation of freedom.
Where in the world are the militia folks now that we need them? Where are
all those right-wingers who claim freedom as their most cherished
possession?
The trouble with the '96 law is that it was poorly written and has been
subject to conflicting interpretations by the lower courts. The law says
that a federal judge can reverse a state court conviction only if it was
contrary to federal law or if it applied federal law in an "unreasonable"
way.
The Fourth Circuit, one of the most conservative courts in the country,
has ruled that this means state courts have applied the law in ways that
"all reasonable jurists would agree is unreasonable." As Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg pointed out, reasonable jurists always disagree on
constitutional issues.
The film "The Hurricane," with Denzel Washington, is about a case in
point. Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a contender for the middleweight boxing
title, was wrongfully convicted of a 1966 triple murder. He spent 19 years
in prison before he was finally released.
The movie depicts the conviction as a frame-up by one racist cop, but as
Selwyn Rabb, who originally covered the story for The New York Times,
wrote: "The actual story is more harrowing because it exposes an
underlying frailty in a criminal justice system that convicted Mr. Carter
not once, but twice. The convictions were obtained not by a lone,
malevolent investigator but by a network of detectives, prosecutors and
judges who countenanced the suppression and tainting of evidence and the
injection of racial bias into the courtroom."
Under current interpretations of the 1996 law, Hurricane Carter would not
be free today.
The most thoughtful comment in the PBS documentary came from a law
professor concerned about the criminal justice system's refusal to
consider its own errors. He pointed out that in most other systems, when
something goes horribly wrong - a plane falls from the sky, a type of car
begins bursting into flames, a hospital patient dies from gross
malpractice - there is a system in place to deal with the error. There are
investigations, reports and ultimately corrections made to prevent
recurrence.
In the criminal justice system, there are only denials and strenuous
efforts to prevent the exculpatory evidence from being presented in court.
The ease with which our criminal justice system can nail the wrong person
has been painfully demonstrated time and again.
(Henry Lee Lucas, the serial liar, provided one of the most bizarre
examples. He claimed to have committed more than 600 murders. Police in 26
states closed the books on 229 murders, and he was convicted of 11 of them
before it occurred to anyone to wonder if he was telling the truth.
Physical evidence against him was found in 2 cases. The state of Texas
managed to convict him for a murder committed while he was quite
demonstrably in another state and had to let him off death row.)
Perhaps the saddest and most terrifying finding in "The Case for
Innocence" is that in the 60-some-odd cases in which innocence has been
proved by DNA and the accused finally freed, none of the cases has been
reopened.
(source: Pocatello Idaho State Journal - Molly Ivins is a columnist for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where she writes about Texas politics and
other bizarre happenings)
*********************************
BOOKS
A deadly combination----Scientist, lawyer team up to write - what else - a
mystery
They met in a morgue.
Michael Baden and Linda Kenney are grinning. They know their story isnt
exactly the stuff of romance novels, where love blooms on a cruise or in
some exotic locale.
Nope, for them, amour was born in a morgue.
In New Jersey.
During an autopsy.
"I had a client who was shot in the back by police officers in New
Jersey," says Kenney, who is a lawyer. She also had concerns over the
medical examiners impartiality and wanted a second autopsy; an
acquaintance recommended an ace New York forensic scientist named Michael
Baden.
"So I called him up, and he said he was busy; he couldnt do it. I said,
'You have to do it." He still said no.
Determined, she phoned him back with a time-saving offer: She would have
him taken by helicopter to the morgue. He said yes.
It was the first of many yeses they would say to each other. Married for
five years in November, they are now co-authors of a new mystery novel,
Remains Silent, which Alfred A. Knopf will publish Tuesday. Theyre already
famous, Kenney as a legal expert/commentator on Court TV and CNN, and
Baden as host of HBOs "Autopsy" documentary series.
And they couldnt resist writing their morgue romance into the new book:
The two lead characters in Remains Silent are medical examiner Jake Rosen
and lawyer Philomena "Manny" Manfreda. Like their creators, they meet in a
morgue. But in the fictionalized version, theyre not sure at first that
they even like each other. Hey, nothing helps a novel like a little sexual
tension and buildup.
In real life, though, Baden knew as soon as he got off that chopper that
he found Kenney interesting.
"I was taken with Linda initially because there she was in high red heels
and fancy jewelry" (he didnt expect her to be so well-dressed). "And when
I went to the autopsy room in the hospital to do the autopsy, she insisted
on being there, in her high heels. It was - there was a little contrast
there."
After the autopsy, though, they really had no professional reason to see
each other again. Not to worry; their acquaintances were talking. One of
them finally called Baden and told him Kenney had found him intriguing,
too. Shades of seventh grade!
An interview with them is peppered with the frequent looks and smiles they
exchange. But the session produces far more quotes from Baden than from
Kenney. Maybe giving them joint control of the handheld tape recorder
wasnt a good idea; Baden keeps wresting the machine out of Kenneys hands
even though she hunches her shoulders, trying to keep him at bay.
While theyre competitive, though, they're good-natured about it. The same
was true during the writing of the book - for the most part.
Kenney says people have asked them if co-authoring Remains Silent brought
them closer. Her response: "In reality, sometime around October of last
year, I was thinking, 'If he changes it one more time Im going to kill
him.'"
He promptly steals the tape recorder back from her.
"It takes some learning," Baden says, "but we each have our strengths.
Lindas a great writer; Im a great copy editor. - I did a lot of copy
editing at my college newspapers and other things, which I enjoyed very
much. And I never saw anything that couldnt be changed: '4 score and 7
years ago? What is that? 87 years ago!"
They began the book by discussing the plot outline. Kenney did the first
draft, including all the legal stuff, but left space for Baden to insert
the forensic details. He did so, then rewrote a lot of her stuff in the
2nd draft. She, in turn, took the third draft and rewrote him - and so on,
until that point where his changes began inspiring her murderous thoughts.
Kenney did make one thing taboo for Baden: He was forbidden to write a
word about the characters clothing or accessories.
He readily confesses he knows nothing about fashion, though he has learned
that many women covet Manolo Blahnik footwear. He also admits Kenney
dresses him. He looks dapper in a charcoal pinstripe suit, but his
ensemble was all Kenneys doing, "even down to my Bruno Magli shoes."
Kenney, 51, grew up a Jersey girl while Baden, 70, was born in the Bronx.
These days they have a vacation home on Marthas Vineyard, but their
primary residence is Manhattan. She makes TV appearances but doesnt do
much actual lawyering these days, preferring to focus on writing. Baden
still works as chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police
and does his HBO gig (see hbo.com/autopsy for a schedule of "Autopsy"
showings in August and early September).
Their romance isnt the only life experience they draw on. They are
sticklers for realism; thus readers of Remains Silent will not see the
melodramatic courtroom grandstanding of certain TV shows. Rather than
actual trial scenes, Kenney has infused the book with motions and other
legal procedures that juries rarely see.
And yes, Baden has insisted on his own brand of realism, but his graceful
touch keeps the book from being overly graphic.
Knopf is betting that such realism will help Remains Silent make a loud
noise in the marketplace. The first printing is a generous 250,000 copies.
To put that in perspective, first editions of books by Knopfs big literary
lion, John Updike, usually run 60,000 copies.
The quarter million figure is probably realistic, given Badens and Kenneys
fame and the popularity of crime fiction and shows like "CSI" and the many
permutations of "Law & Order."
Kenney thinks the public interest in such things is so high because "its a
chance for everybody to be a detective, to do something hard, to try to
solve a puzzle."
She starts to say more, but oops, her hubby has the tape recorder again;
my, what quick hands.
"Also," he says, "it seems to me that once the death penalty was
reinstituted in this country, murder investigations became even more
important" because of the consequences. That has helped fuel public
interest in criminal justice, both on the fact and fiction sides.
So has the controversy the reinstated death statutes have created.
"I don't have any personal upset at the death penalty as an abstraction,"
Baden says. "What I do realize is how many mistakes can be made with the
way things are being done now."
One of his recommendations for a better criminal justice system: better
autopsies. Half of all the nations death investigations, he says, still
involve a coroner, an elected official who is not required to have any
real medical training. Many coroners are funeral directors, and Baden is
blunt about this: He believes only trained forensic experts should be
doing autopsies.
"There'll be 50 murders today in the United States. And 20 percent of them
will not be solved. One of the reasons is our ability to do autopsies is
still so poor."
Death, murder, corpses, autopsies: It all prompts another question. Has
Baden, over the years, experienced a lot of negative reactions when
telling people about his job? Yes, he says - but he offers some
perspective.
"People confuse death with the act of dying. When we investigate a death,
do an autopsy, that person is out of their misery. Their pain and
suffering is over. We gather information that will allow the family to
bring some closure, and allow society to pursue a bad guy, if a bad guy
has caused the death."
Even with her background in criminal law, Kenney says, Badens work took a
little getting used to. Now, though, "I dont find anything unusual in it -
except when he comes home and we cant get the clothes into the washing
machine fast enough."
In Remains Silent, the female lawyer does tease the male medical examiner
a bit, using a term Kenney came up with for the novel. In real life, Baden
says, his wife has been a bit gentler.
"She has called me Dr. Death," he says, "but not Dr. Rigor Mortis."
(source: John Eberhart, Kansas City Star)
*********************************
Execution of the innocent----Putting the death penalty on trial
972 men and women have been executed in states with the death penalty
since 1976. Last month one of them, Larry Griffin of St. Louis, got a
chance at a post-mortem reprieve.
Found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he could soon be found innocent
beyond the grave. Missouri killed him by lethal injection at the Potosi
Correctional Center in 1995.
This remarkable case bears watching. It could not only affect the 52
inmates currently on death row in Missouri, but all 3,415 death row
inmates in the nation.
Griffin's case is being reopened 25 years after he was accused of the
drive-by murder he said he didnt commit. Victims-rights groups should want
to know what happens because they most of all should want to see the
guilty person - not just anyone - punished for violent crimes.
Evidence provided by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund suggests
that not only was Griffin innocent of the crime that sent him to death
row, but he wasnt even there at the time.
The probe into the Griffin case was conducted over a year and was overseen
by University of Michigan law professor Samuel Gross, who worked with a
team of civil rights investigators in other states. Based on the review of
the case, the team presented a file that led St. Louis Circuit Attorney
Jennifer Joyce to reopen the case for further investigation.
Besides comments from a new witness who says Griffin wasnt there, the
civil rights investigators provided Joyce with the names of 3 men believed
to be responsible for the drive-by killing.
"The evidence of Larry Griffins innocence is much stronger than the
evidence we have on the identity of the actual killers," Gross said. "If
she (Joyce) concludes that Larry Griffin is innocent, I have no doubt that
she will say so."
Missouri is a conservative state with an ambitious and conservative
Republican governor who supports capital punishment. Nevertheless, Joyce
deserves plaudits for taking this courageous and legally responsible
stand.
A re-examination of this case will not bring Griffin back to life,
obviously, but it may result in clearing his name and bringing the real
killers of 19-year-old Quintin Moss to justice.
One problem with the death penalty is that it is irreversible. When
mistakes are made, there really is no way to correct them. Missouri may
have to admit that it killed the wrong man. If so, an apology wont be
enough.
"This may encourage other prosecutors and other government officials to
look seriously at cases where errors may have been made," Gross said. It
must. Execution is cruel and unusual punishment that doesnt reduce violent
crime.
This case is the best argument for a moratorium on executions in Missouri.
Illinois did that in 2000 when then-Gov. George Ryan commuted the
sentences of 167 death row inmates after appeals courts exonerated 13
inmates on death row. Ryan used to support the death penalty but evidence
of flaws in the system caused him to insist on a review of capital cases.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens spoke recently at an American
Bar Association meeting where he raised concerns about jury prejudice,
prosecutorial errors and "special risks of unfairness" in the appellate
process.
Stevens also said DNA evidence has shown "that a substantial number of
death sentences have been imposed erroneously." He added, "It indicates
that there must be some serious flaws in our administration of criminal
justice." Indeed.
If DNA evidence can be used to close cold cases, some decades old in
Kansas City, why shouldnt it be called upon in capital cases where such
forensic advances are a matter of life and death for the accused?
"Of course Larry Griffin was no angel," Gross said. "One of the real
criminals in this case went on to a prolific career as a hitman and
killed, by his own admission, 11 people." The 3 men believed to be the
real killers are currently serving life sentences for other murders in
Missouri.
In March, the Supreme Court wisely determined that executing persons under
age 18 is unconstitutional. And in June, the court overturned death
sentences of 4 inmates. The court is moving in the proper direction, but
that could change with the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice
Sandra Day OConnor.
While so many people are debating how this court defines the beginning of
life in the abortion debate, they must also ponder how it could redefine
the end of life on death row.
Griffin is African-American. Most death-row inmates - and victims - arent.
Of the 3,415 inmates on death row as of July 1, 1,553 are white, 1,432 are
black, 350 are Hispanic, 40 are Native American and 39 are Asian. Only 54
are women.
Missouri ranks 4th in the nation (Texas is No. 1) in executions. This is
nothing to be proud of. Neither is the possibility that Missouri killed a
man who maintained his innocence until his dying breath and who maybe was
telling the truth.
(source: Opinion, Rhonda Lokeman, Kansas City Star)
*******************************
WITNESS TO INNOCENCE
A project of The Moratorium Campaign, Witness to Innocence
challenges the public to grapple with the problem of a fatally flawed
criminal justice system that sends innocent people to death row. It does
this by exposing citizens to the incredibly powerful stories and
compelling testimony of individuals who were sentenced to death and lived
to tell about it. The project maintains a speakers bureau of exonerated
former death row prisoners who bring to the public a unique firsthand
account of an innocent person's experience with the justice system.
Speakers are available to give presentations to colleges, religious
communities, organizations and community groups.
No one can describe the horror of the death penalty and the reality of
life on death row better than someone who has experienced it. Regardless
of a person's position on capital punishment, he or she will learn a great
deal from hearing one of these courageous individuals speak. Their
stories invariably have a transformative impact on audiences. To learn
more about how Witness to Innocence can help you organize an inspiring
educational event featuring an exonerated former death row prisoner,
contact:
Witness to Innocence
P.O. Box 34725
Philadelphia, PA 19101
215-243-0505
[email protected]
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Death row inmate mulls suing his lawyers
After spending six years on Death Row for killing his parents, a Rock Hill
man says he still hasnt decided if he will sue his trial lawyers and
prosecutors, or if he even wants a new lawyer.
James Robertson was convicted of double murder for beating his parents to
death in 1997 with a hammer and baseball bat. Prosecutors said Robertson
killed Terry and Earl Robertson for their estate of more than $2 million.
They say he tried to cover up the crime by making it appear his parents
had been robbed.
Robertson had received permission in February to drop all his appeals and
be put to death.
But with his execution just weeks away, Robertson filed court papers in
June saying he deserved a new trial because his defense attorneys were
ineffective and prosecutors committed misconduct during his 1999 trial.
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled unanimously to give Robertson time
to file the appeal, called post-conviction relief.
Robertson told Judge John Few in a hearing in Greenville on Friday that he
plans to file the appeal, "but not right away."
"I have a year to file ... I have 365 days. Whether I wake up tomorrow or
wake up in 350 days and decide to file, I dont know," he said.
But Few and Ed Salter of the state attorney generals office told Robertson
he has just 60 days from the time the lawyer issue is resolved to file a
suit, or the Department of Corrections can set a date for execution.
Robertson told the judge he was wrong. "That's not the way I read it," he
said.
Few, appointed by the Supreme Court to handle the post-conviction relief,
told Robertson he should have a lawyer. Robertson said he only wants a
lawyer who will respect his wishes.
If Robertson decides not to get a lawyer, Few then will have to determine
if the decision was voluntarily made. York County Judge John C. Hayes III
has ruled twice that Robertson was mentally competent to both fire his
lawyer and drop his appeal.
Few said he would compile a list of lawyers to be sent to Robertson.
Robertson on Friday broached the idea of again representing himself
through the potential lawsuit.
In court in February during a hearing about dropping the appeal, Robertson
admitted killing his parents. His reasons for dropping the appeal, not
wanting lawyers or waiting to file court documents still remain unclear.
The 60-day deadline for Robertson to file a lawsuit begins after the
lawyer issue is resolved, Salter said. Another hearing is set for Sept.
23.
(source: Associated Press)
OHIO:
Ky. man faces death penalty
Authorities say John David Anderson took a man's life and for that, he
could lose his own.
A Lawrence County grand jury has returned an 8-count indictment against
Anderson, the man arrested in connection with the death of Arthur Boyer
last month.
That indictment includes 2 aggravated murder charges, both of which carry
death penalty specifications.
Both murder charges are in connection with Boyer's death but are different
on technicalities. One stipulates that the murder was the result of a
robbery or attempted robbery and the other that the murder was the result
of a burglary or attempted burglary.
This makes Anderson the 2nd person facing the death penalty in Lawrence
County right now, and the 3rd person with a murder charge pending.
"We've certainly had our fair share of really bad crimes lately," Lawrence
County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., said. "This was a very straightforward
case and now we get ready for the trial."
The grand jury also chose to indict Anderson charges of 1st-degree
aggravated robbery, 1st-degree aggravated burglary, 2nd-degree aggravated
arson, 4th-degree grand theft, 3rd-degree tampering with evidence and
5th-degree abuse of a corpse. The robbery and burglary charges also carry
firearms charges.
Anderson is likely to be arraigned in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court
early next week, Collier said. Anderson was recently returned from
Kentucky and is lodged in the Lawrence County Jail.
Anderson was arrested late on the evening of July 21 in Carter County,
Ky., hours after the body of the elderly Boyer was found in his burned out
residence in Deering. What started as a fire call escalated into a
fatality, and authorities soon began investigating the incident as an
arson that was used to cover up a murder.
It is perhaps unprecedented that two men face death row in Lawrence County
at the same time. Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Frank McCown, who
practiced law for many years before taking the bench, said he could not
remember a time when the county had two death penalty cases pending at the
same time.
"Certainly not in the time that I have been around the court," McCown
said. "The death penalty has come and gone and now it is back again. It's
possible that we had more than one death penalty case as an outcome of the
jail break here in the 1960s, when the police chief of Ironton, Gene
Markel, was killed."
(source: The Ironton Tribune)
