Jan. 9
OHIO:
Alliance man on death row pins hopes on DNA test.
The attorney for a former Alliance man on death row for a double murder says a
new DNA test on a cigarette butt could be critical evidence in an attempt to
overturn his conviction.
The prosecutor says new analysis would not prove Tyrone Noling is not guilty
even if the cigarette butt was linked to a man who had once been a suspect in
the case.
The Ohio Supreme Court heard those arguments Tuesday in Columbus and took
Noling's request for new DNA testing under advisement.
Noling was convicted of shooting and killing an elderly couple, Bearnhardt and
Cora Hartig, in their Atwater home in Portage County in 1990. He was sentenced
to death in 1996.
A date has not been set for Noling's execution.
The cigarette butt was found in the driveway of the Hartigs home, and a DNA
test in 1996 showed it did not match Noling.
Carrie Wood, an attorney with the Ohio Innocence Project, said she wants to
determine if the cigarette butt matches the DNA profile of Daniel Wilson that
is stored in a federal database.
Wilson, convicted of murder in another case, was executed in 2009. He lived
near the elderly couple's home. Wood said that a previous DNA test did not
exclude Wilson as the source. Testing technology has advanced since then and
can pinpoint DNA to 1 person, she said.
At issue was whether state law allows more DNA testing in the case.
Under a law passed by the Ohio General Assembly in 2010, biological evidence
can be retested if there???s a strong likelihood the results would determine
the perpetrator of the crime.
State law allows for "more DNA testing, not less," Wood said.
No physical evidence linked Noling to the murders, but alleged accomplices
testified he had shot the husband and wife. The testimony later was recanted.
Portage County Prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci said that even if a new test
matches Wilson's DNA to the cigarette butt, it doesn't prove Wilson killed the
elderly couple. At most it would indicate Wilson flicked a cigarette butt out
the window while driving by the home, he said.
He said Wilson was ruled out as a suspect in the Hartig murders early in the
investigation. Noling's request for new testing is an effort to delay the death
penalty, Vigluicci said.
"We want to get to the truth as much as anybody else," he said. "This isn't one
of those cases where DNA has relevance."
SUPREME COURT
Both Wood and Vigluicci faced intensive questioning from the high court.
Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer said the significance of a DNA link to
Wilson is the bottom line.
"If you get through the legal issues (about whether new testing should be
permitted) it's still not proof Wilson did it - it would be proof that a
cigarette he touched was in the victim???s driveway."
Wood said more DNA testing can provide more information about the perpetrator
of the crime and would place Wilson at the crime scene. The results could be
combined with other evidence, she said, including recanted testimony and
statements she said Wilson made to his foster brother about the Hartig case.
(source: Canton Repository)
ALABAMA:
Alabama Death Row Inmate Loses Appeal Because of Mistake by Troubled Lawyer
Alabama death-row inmate Ronald Smith had the bad fortune to be represented by
a troubled lawyer who failed to submit either a filing fee or a motion to waive
the cost along with court papers for a collateral appeal.
As a result of the error, Smith's documents weren't "properly filed" by the
deadline, according to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In
a Dec. 28 opinion, the court barred Smith from pursuing a habeas appeal. The
New York Times reports on the decision (PDF) in a Sidebar column noting "many
idiosyncrasies" in the Alabama's capital justice system.
One idiosyncrasy: Alabama is among 3 states that allow judges to impose the
death penalty despite jurors' recommendations for a life sentence. Smith was
sentenced to death for the murder of a store clerk by a judge who used the
procedure.
A 2nd idiosyncrasy: Alabama does not guarantee representation to indigent
capital defendants in habeas proceedings. The local lawyer representing Smith,
C. Wade Johnson, was a troubled man, the Times says.
"The lawyer himself was on probation for public intoxication and was addicted
to crystal methamphetamine while he was being less than punctilious," the story
says. "In the months that followed, the lawyer would be charged with drug
possession, declare bankruptcy and commit suicide." Smith was also represented
by a second lawyer, but he was licensed in a different state and was not
licensed in Alabama.
The Times notes that the U.S Supreme Court has twice rebuked the 11th Circuit
for its rigid attitude toward filing deadlines in death penalty appeals. "The
appeals court does not seem to be listening," the story says.
(source: ABA Journal)
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