Countdown to Wrongful Conviction Day: Friday, October 2, 2105; 29 days. For information: http://www.aidwyc.org/wcd-2015/
"The
West Virginia Supreme Court will hear arguments Oct. 6 in the case of a
man trying to overturn his rape and robbery charges through new DNA
testing...The court will begin its work at 10 a.m. on that Tuesday in
Charleston.
Buffey’s lawyers are Allan N.
Karlin of Morgantown and Nina Morrison and Barry Scheck of the New
York-based Innocence Project. They are trying to get Buffey cleared in a
case in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery
and one count of sexual assault in 2002.
Further DNA testing conducted
recently shows Buffey wasn’t involved and pointed at another man, Adam
Derek Bowers, 29, of Clarksburg, who was convicted of rape, burglary and
robbery charges earlier this year and is awaiting his Sept. 14
sentencing before Bedell.
Bowers, a juvenile at the time of
the 2001 attack on an 83-year-old woman, didn’t become a suspect until
Buffey’s lawyers won the right to compare their new DNA test results to a
state-kept database that includes profiles of prisoners.
Bowers was in prison at the time for
other, non-sex related crimes.
........ All of this and much more was
presented to Harrison Chief Judge Thomas A. Bedell in hearings that
lasted more than half a week last year.
For Bedell, one of the key issues
seems to be the sanctity of such a contract.
In his ruling, Bedell likened
Buffey’s dissatisfaction with the 70-year prison sentence he received
“buyer’s remorse.”
The Innocence Project lawyers and
Karlin have countered by focusing on studies that show defendants
routinely have been coerced into pleading guilty when they aren’t due to
factors such as the length of an interview and hunger.
Once the case is heard, the justices
are likely to issue an opinion before the term of the Supreme Court
ends in December.
Bowers, 29, and Buffey, 32, were
both from Clarksburg.
Unless he wins his appeal or gets
some other form of relief, Buffey won’t become parole eligible until
Dec. 8, 2041."
http://www.theet.com/news/local/supreme-court-sets-buffey-case-for-argument-on-oct/article_4b80626b-d539-5b77-a16d-c7027735966e.html