"Perry is seeking the reprieve based, according to the petition, on “newly discovered evidence” regarding Dr. Paul Shrode, the medical examiner who testified in Perry’s trial, and a confession made in 2002 by Burkett to another Montgomery County Jail inmate.
“Mr. Perry has been wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death because he falsely confessed to killing Sandra Stotler,” the petition states.
The “preponderance of evidence” shows that murder confessions are more likely to be false, said David Fisher, a watchdog in Bastrop County who has investigated several medical examiners throughout the state.
Often, Fisher said, defendants will confess because they have been pressured and want to end their interrogation, believing that evidence will outweigh the confession.
Fisher, whose investigation into Shrode’s falsified resume led to Shrode’s firing as El Paso County’s medical examiner last month, believes there is “better than a 50-50 chance” that Perry is innocent of Stotler’s murder."
REPORTER NANCY FLAKE: THE COURIER OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY;
PHOTO: DR. PAUL SHRODE;
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BACKGROUND: Several cases have came under scrutiny following developments relating to Richard Nields which center around Dr. Paul Shrode. Richard Nields was on death row having been convicted of killing his girlfriend Patricia Newsome in Springfield Township (just outside Cincinnati). The Supreme Court of Ohio had scheduled his murder for June 10. The Ohio Parole Board hearing was held May 10. The Parole Board issued its report and recommendation on May 18, 2010. By a 4-3 vote, it recommended that the Ted commute the sentence to life without parole, partly because it found the opinion of medical examiner Paul Shrode was unsupported by the forensic evidence. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland commuted the death sentence to life without parole.
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"One of two men convicted in the October 2001 murder of a Conroe nurse is seeking a 180-day reprieve from his July 1 execution, based on new evidence that he claims shows he is innocent," the story by Courier reporter Nancy Flake published on June 22, 2010, begins, under the heading, "Perry seeks reprieve from July 1 execution."
"Michael James “Romeo” Perry, 28, was convicted in 2003 of the shooting death of Sandra Stotler at her home, as was Jason Burkett, who also was convicted of the shooting deaths of Adam Stotler, Sandra Stotler’s son, and Jeremy Richardson, both 16," the story continues.
"Burkett was given a life sentence for his 2003 conviction.
The petition for reprieve was filed last week with the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole by attorney Jessica Mederson, of Vinson & Elkins LLP in Austin. It asks the Pardons and Parole Board to recommend that Gov. Rick Perry grant the reprieve or a commutation of Perry’s death sentence.
Mederson said Tuesday she was busy filing additional papers on Michael Perry’s behalf and could not comment on the petition for reprieve.
Perry is seeking the reprieve based, according to the petition, on “newly discovered evidence” regarding Dr. Paul Shrode, the medical examiner who testified in Perry’s trial, and a confession made in 2002 by Burkett to another Montgomery County Jail inmate.
“Mr. Perry has been wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death because he falsely confessed to killing Sandra Stotler,” the petition states.
The “preponderance of evidence” shows that murder confessions are more likely to be false, said David Fisher, a watchdog in Bastrop County who has investigated several medical examiners throughout the state.
Often, Fisher said, defendants will confess because they have been pressured and want to end their interrogation, believing that evidence will outweigh the confession.
Fisher, whose investigation into Shrode’s falsified resume led to Shrode’s firing as El Paso County’s medical examiner last month, believes there is “better than a 50-50 chance” that Perry is innocent of Stotler’s murder.
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland granted clemency June 4 to Richard Nields, a death row inmate in that state scheduled to die June 10, based on discredited testimony by Shrode, who previously served as a medical examiner in Ohio’s Hamilton County.
Perry confessed to Sandra Stotler’s murder, the petition states, because, when he and Burkett were captured by law enforcement, Perry was “exhausted, hung over, famished and so severely injured from a car chase and accident that he was taken to the hospital after his arrest.”
Vicki Howard, a Montgomery County Jail nurse at the time of Perry’s arrest, testified during his trial that she was concerned for his medical condition and ordered he be returned to the hospital for further medical tests because she had noticed a large knot on his head and blood flowing from one of his ears.
However, she also testified Perry was laughing and admitted to her the day of his arrest that he had shot a woman.
In the petition, Mederson wrote, a witness has come forward “for the first time” who was told directly by Burkett that Burkett murdered Sandra Stotler.
That witness, DeCarlos Garrett, is serving a life sentence for an aggravated robbery conviction out of Harris County in 2002, according to Public Data. He met Burkett while both were incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail during the summer of 2002, the petition states.
Shrode’s testimony that Sandra Stotler was likely murdered on Oct. 26, 2001, or later, when Perry was in jail, have been substantiated by Dr. Glenn Larkin, an independent pathologist hired by Perry.
But Larkin also found the murders of Adam Stotler and Jeremy Richardson “occurred much later than Ms. Stotler’s – a fact Dr. Shrode failed to recognize at all,” the petition states.
Wanting Sandra Stotler’s red Camaro, Perry and Burkett entered her home, shot her twice in the back and dumped her body in Crater Lake, near Grangerland, juries that convicted them determined. They then returned to the gated community where she lived and waited outside the gate until Adam Stotler and Richardson arrived.
They lured the teens to a wooded area and killed Adam Stotler and Richardson by shooting each multiple times. Perry and Burkett, driving the vehicle Adam Stotler had been driving, went back to Sandra Stotler’s home and stole her Camaro.
Sandra Stotler’s body was found dumped in Crater Lake on Oct. 27, 2001, while the bodies of the two boys were found Oct. 30.
The prosecution theorized that Sandra Stotler was murdered on Oct. 24, 2001, but evidence showed they occurred sometime on Oct. 26 or 27, when Perry was in jail, the petition states. Shrode testified Sandra Stotler’s death occurred 24-36 hours before he performed an autopsy, placing the murder between 1 p.m. Oct. 26 and 1 p.m. Oct. 27.
According to the petition, Perry was in jail from around 10 a.m. Oct. 26 to 5 p.m. Oct. 27.
On the website www.savemichaelperry.info, Perry himself calls the evidence against him “ridiculous” and asks his supporters to demand explanation of the discrepancies.
“We will NOT be distracted, and we cannot allow others to be distracted,” he writes, “we Must come together, and FORCE, DEMAND, that they explain how this is possible, and do something about this ridiculous situation.”"
The story can be found at:
http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/06/22/conroe_courier/news/perry062310.txt
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
