"The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission met for two days before deciding unanimously Friday that a three-judge panel should review the cases of Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxsin.
The eight-member commission found "sufficient evidence of actual innocence to merit judicial review," the panel's chairman, Judge Quentin Sumner, said."
REPORTER MARTHA WAGGONER: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS;
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"RALEIGH, N.C. — The country's only state agency dedicated to investigating claims of innocence ruled Friday that the cases of two men who pleaded guilty to murder are worthy of further judicial review," the Associated Press story by reporter Martha Waggoner published earlier today under the heading, "North Carolina innocence panel says cases of men who pleaded guilty to murder merit review," begins.
"The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission met for two days before deciding unanimously Friday that a three-judge panel should review the cases of Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxsin," the story continues.
"The eight-member commission found "sufficient evidence of actual innocence to merit judicial review," the panel's chairman, Judge Quentin Sumner, said.
The commission investigated the claims of Kagonyera and Wilcoxsin, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Walter Bowman of Fairview even though both maintained their innocence before and after their pleas.
In videotaped depositions that the commission members watched Thursday, Kagonyera said he felt pressured by his attorney and family members to accept a plea bargain in order to avoid a possible charge of first-degree murder and a death sentence. Wilcoxsin said he feared a life sentence that would prevent him from ever seeing his daughter again.
The commission has heard three other cases, one of which resulted in the release of a man who served almost 17 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. A three-judge panel found Greg Taylor innocent in February 2010.
The next steps will be to notify the senior resident Superior Court judge in Buncombe County and the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, so that a hearing can be scheduled, said Kendra Montgomery-Blinn, the commission's executive director.
Attorneys for the two men, Chris Fialko and Frank Wells said Friday they had not been able to notify their clients of the commission's decision but knew the men would be pleased.
"It's exciting news for Robert," said Fialko, Wilcoxsin's attorney. "He's thankful that the commission staff investigated as well as they did, and he's looking forward, I'm sure, to the three-judge panel."
The evidence centered on a confession by a federal prisoner who named two other men as his accomplices; DNA results of one of those accomplices found on a bandana at the scene; and DNA results on bandanas that excluded all of the four men who served time for the home invasion.
The two other men convicted in the home invasion during which Bowman was killed have been released.
In lenghty testimony Thursday, Kagonyera's trial attorney testified that he never saw the DNA evidence that excluded all four men. That evidence would have shifted the entire case, attorney Sean Devereux testified.
District Attorney Ron Moore didn't return a phone call to The Associated Press about the DNA evidence. But he told the Asheville Citizen-Times that he didn't recall the DNA report.
"I've had an open-file policy since the first day I came in office," Moore said. "That's been our pattern and practice."
And Friday, the panel learned that four minutes of a videotape obtained as possible evidence have been recorded over with scenes from a soap opera. The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office obtained the videotape as possible evidence on Sept. 19, 2000, one day after Bowman's murder.
The commission learned that Det. George Sprinkle, who saw the video before it was recorded over, described it as showing three black males coming into the convenience store and gas station at 11:19 p.m. Sept. 18, the night of the murder. From 11:17 p.m. to 11:21 p.m., the tape is recorded over with scenes from "The Guiding Light."
"I'm not trying to attach a bad purpose either, but wow, this looks bad," said Wayne County District Attorney Branson Vickory III, a commission member.
The 911 call about the home invasion came at 11:55 p.m., after the surveillance tape shows the three at the store.
An automobile expert identified the car seen in an enhanced version of the tape as a 1971 or 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass. It's the same type of car driven by Lacy Pickens, who was never charged in the case but was named in a Crimestoppers tip early in the investigation. A federal prisoner who confessed to the crime in 2003, Robert Rutherford, also named Pickens as another person who participated in the home invasion.
Both the current sheriff and Lt. John Elkins, who obtained the videotape from the store, said they weren't aware that the video had been recorded over but said that could have happened inadvertently, commission investigator Lindsey Guice Smith testified. Sprinkle said he didn't record over the video and that it would not have been recorded over inadvertently, Smith testified.
Other testimony concentrated on Rutherford, Pickens and Bradford Summey, whom Rutherford also identified as participating in the home invasion. Rutherford, who is in federal custody for conspiracy to traffic drugs, confessed in a phone call with an agent from the Drug Enforcement Agency, according to that agent, but denied ever confessing when commission attorney Jamie Lau interviewed him.
In addition, results from bandanas found at the Bowman home showed Summey's DNA on one bandana, while the DNA of Rutherford and Pickens could not be excluded from evidence. DNA results excluded any of the four men who have served time or remain behind bars for the murder and home invasion.
The hearing opened with evidence about Matt Bacoate and an organization he manages called New Life Options, previously named Life on Life's Terms. Lau said many of the people whom he interviewed mentioned Bacoate, even without being asked, so he looked into the group. New Life Options counsels people charged with crimes, and participants say they get reduced sentences for their participation.
One attorney said "it was always his understanding that the program operated with a wink and a nod from the DA's office," Lau testified."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/3c7d07b7653e4077a15f9d6aebdbb9e8/NC--Innocence-Commission/
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
