"Mark Boodee, a forensic analyst with the State Bureau of Investigation, told the court that saliva found on bandanas discarded on the roadside near the crime scene didn’t match the DNA profile of any of the men charged with Bowman’s murder.
But in March 2007, the state’s Combined DNA Index System got a hit matching the DNA to Summey, Boodee testified. He said he sent a report on the findings to the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office, but no action was taken.........
Sean Devereux, Kagonyera’s former attorney on the murder charge, said his client steadfastly maintained his innocence and that District Attorney Ron Moore’s office never passed along an SBI lab report showing the defendants’ DNA was not on the bandanas."
REPORTER CLARKE MORRISSON; ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMEs;
Photo: Kenneth Kagonyera;
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"ASHEVILLE — Four days of testimony were more than enough to convince Rhonden Finch that her son, Robert Wilcoxson, and Kenneth Kagonyera didn’t commit the murder they were convicted of," the Ashevilled Citizen-Times story by reporter Clarke Morrison published on September 18, 2011 under the heading, "Innocence hearing resumes today in Asheville: Defense continues case," begins.
"“I think there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence these two men are innocent, that the investigation wasn’t thoroughly done,” she said. “A lot of things seem to have been ignored," the story continues.
"Finch, who is from the Detroit area, sat behind her son last week in a Buncombe County courtroom as defense attorneys presented evidence they hope will demonstrate to a special three-judge panel that police and prosecutors charged the wrong men in the Sept. 18, 2000, slaying of Walter Rodney Bowman at his home in Fairview.
“If they had done their homework, they would have known they had the wrong people,” she said. “These men need to be free.”
Testimony resumes today in the unusual hearing that’s being held at the direction of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, which concluded there’s enough new evidence that Kagonyera and Wilcoxson didn’t kill Bowman to warrant the judicial proceeding.
The defense won’t conclude its case until later this week, attorney Noell Tin said. Then it will be the state’s turn to present evidence. The defense went first because under the law that created the Innocence Commission it has the burden of proof.
In her opening argument to the judges, Assistant District Attorney Kate Dreher emphasized that the defendants pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
“These individuals stood before a Superior Court judge and swore on a Bible they were in fact guilty,” she said.
But Tin argued that Kagonyera and Wilcoxson pleaded guilty at the urging of prosecutors and their own attorneys who told them they could get life in prison or death if the case went to trial.
“They got worn down with threats of the death penalty,” Tin said.
Highlights from the first week of testimony include:
Barnabas Whiteis, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said he received a call in March 2003 from federal inmate Robert Earle Rutherford, who confessed to the home invasion that resulted in Bowman’s death.
Rutherford named Bradford Summey, who is serving time in state prison for robbery, and Lacy “J.J.” Pickens, who was killed by an Asheville police officer while trying to elude arrest in 2006, as his accomplices, the agent said.
Wanda Holloway testified she was in Bowman’s home the night of the slaying when three men stormed through the front door, their faces covered by bandanas. One of the intruders shot through a bedroom door, killing Bowman.
Mark Boodee, a forensic analyst with the State Bureau of Investigation, told the court that saliva found on bandanas discarded on the roadside near the crime scene didn’t match the DNA profile of any of the men charged with Bowman’s murder.
But in March 2007, the state’s Combined DNA Index System got a hit matching the DNA to Summey, Boodee testified. He said he sent a report on the findings to the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office, but no action was taken.
Jamie Lau, an Innocence Commission investigator, said a security camera at the Kounty Line convenience store on Charlotte Highway not far from the crime scene around the time of the slaying showed three black men getting out of a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, the same make and model owned by Pickens at the time.
The judges viewing the recording also learned that a crucial three-minute segment was taped over by an episode of the soap opera “The Guiding Light.” The portion that was taped over could have shown a clear look at the suspects’ faces. The episode aired the day before warrants were issued charging six men with Bowman’s murder.
Lau said detectives investigating the slaying never interviewed Rutherford, Pickens or Summey, even though they were named in a Crime Stoppers tip.
Federal inmate Kevin Polk and Rutherford’s cousin, Alexander McKenzie, both testified that Rutherford told them that he, Pickens and Summey committed the crime. Polk said Rutherford named Summey as the triggerman.
Sean Devereux, Kagonyera’s former attorney on the murder charge, said his client steadfastly maintained his innocence and that District Attorney Ron Moore’s office never passed along an SBI lab report showing the defendants’ DNA was not on the bandanas."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110919/NEWS/309190061/Innocence-hearing-resumes-today?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
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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;
