Aug. 16
VIRGINIA:
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS VACATES CONVICTION AND DEATH SENTENCE OF JUSTIN WOLFE
Virginia Inmate Vindicated After Finding of Prosecutorial Misconduct
On August 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower
court ruling that vacated Justin Wolfe's conviction and death sentence for a
drug-conspiracy murder in Virginia in 2001. The Court found that the
prosecution suppressed important exculpatory evidence. Wolfe maintained his
innocence throughout his incarceration. He has been on Virginia's death row
since 2002.
"This case demonstrates that the danger of wrongful convictions in death
penalty cases continues," said Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death
Penalty Information Center (DPIC). "Since 1973, 140 people have been exonerated
and freed from death row. This level of risk of executing theinnocent is
unacceptable."
The earlier U.S. District Court ruling concluded that Wolfe had shown he was
actually innocent, satisfying applicable Supreme Court precedent, and described
the prosecution's case against Wolfe as tenuous at best: "A review of the trial
proceedings unveiled witness testimony replete with hearsay and speculation.
The physical evidence that did exist...was circumstantial."
Wolfe was convicted of conspiracy in the murder of Daniel Petrole, a fellow
drug dealer in northern Virginia. His conviction was based primarily on the
testimony of the actual shooter, Owen Barber, who claimed that Wolfe hired him
to kill Petrole because of an outstanding debt. In 2010, Barber testified in
open court, subject to cross-examination, that his testimony at Wolfe's trial
was false, and that Wolfe had nothing to do with Petrole's death. Barber has
also admitted that he agreed to implicate Wolfe in order to avoid the death
penalty.
The appeals court cited critical evidence withheld by the prosecution,
including that the police advised Barber that he could avoid the death penalty
by implicating Wolfe.
The prosecution also failed to disclose statements by Barber's roommate, Jason
Coleman, who said Barber admitted to him that he murdered Petrole and acted
alone. The District Court held, "[T]he substance and nature of the suppressed
evidence reasonably undermines the Court's confidence in this verdict."
John Partridge, the attorney who represented Wolfe at trial, had his law
license revoked shortly after Wolfe's conviction for mishandling other cases.
Partridge had never handled a capital murder trial before Wolfe's.
Since the Commonwealth of Virginia has not yet announced its intentions for
further action in this case, it would be premature to include Justin Wolfe on
DPIC's Exoneration List. Inclusion on the list requires that all charges
related to the murder be dismissed. Nevertheless, Wolfe's case presents a
strong case of probable innocence and of official misconduct that could have
led to a wrongful execution.
(source: Death Penalty Information Center)
_______________________________________________
DeathPenalty mailing list
DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A free service of WashLaw
http://washlaw.edu
(785)670.1088
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~