Bulletin: Joseph Buffey; West Virginia; WAJR reports that a status hearing for his case is set for tomorrow morning. (Thursday 17 March, 2016); He was permitted to withdraw his guilty pleas to a 2001 robbery and sexual assault will soon have a better idea of how the restarted case against him will proceed. "Meanwhile, DNA taken from the crime scene was being tested by State Police that would eventually indicate another suspect in the case who lived blocks away from the victim. However, the state indicated to the lab that the testing would not be needed as they had begun the process leading to a deal. Buffey would later learn about the potentially exonerating evidence and began an appeal process with the backing of the New York-based Innocence Project and Morgantown Attorney Al Karlin. Through the appeal process, his petition was characterized as “buyers remorse” after not getting a favorable sentence and the state proposed a theory in which there were two suspects that assaulted the victim while Buffey wore a condom."

"Joseph “Joe” Anthony Buffey is scheduled to appear for a status hearing in Harrison County Circuit Court at 11 a.m. Thursday morning. Last month, Buffey was permitted to withdraw guilty pleas made as part of a deal with the state in 2002 to two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of first-degree robbery and was approved for a $100,000 personal recognizance bond with the condition of electronically monitored home confinement. The right to withdraw the pleas was earned through a state Supreme Court ruling last year after the defense argued that prosecutors violated their client’s rights leading up to the plea agreement in which he received a 70-year sentence. In December 2001, Buffey was a 19-year old arrested after breaking into the Salvation Army in downtown Clarksburg. He reportedly confessed to that crimes but, he was then interrogated for eight hours about another crime committed several blocks away that night in which a suspect broke into the home of the 83-year-old mother of a Clarksburg police officer, held a knife to her, demanded money and sexually assaulted her multiple times. Buffey attempted to confess to the crime, but couldn’t get the details of the crime correct and later said he was lying when he confessed. The state pursued charges for both crimes and Buffey’s court-appointed attorney allegedly led Buffey to believe that he wouldn’t receive additional punishment if he went ahead and entered guilty pleas. Meanwhile, DNA taken from the crime scene was being tested by State Police that would eventually indicate another suspect in the case who lived blocks away from the victim. However, the state indicated to the lab that the testing would not be needed as they had begun the process leading to a deal. Buffey would later learn about the potentially exonerating evidence and began an appeal process with the backing of the New York-based Innocence Project and Morgantown Attorney Al Karlin. Through the appeal process, his petition was characterized as “buyers remorse” after not getting a favorable sentence and the state proposed a theory in which there were two suspects that assaulted the victim while Buffey wore a condom. The case made it’s way to the state Supreme Court of Appeals, where attorney’s representing Harrison County defended their stance while Karlin argued that by withholding the potentially exculpatory evidence –even during the deal process– the state violated the Brady Rule, which entitles those convicted of crimes to exculpatory evidence before a trial. In their ruling, the justices agreed with the arguments made by Buffey’s team and ordered he be allowed to withdraw his pleas."

http://wajr.com/status-hearing-for-buffey-case-set-for-thursday-morning/