"According
to Talbot County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Kehoe, two men convicted in
2001 of the 1987 murder of a 64-year-old Easton woman will stay at the
Talbot County Detention Center for the remainder of their evidentiary
hearing, which began Monday, April 11, and will run through Friday,
April 15. David R. Faulkner, 51, of Ridgely, and Jonathan
D. Smith Sr., 46, of Easton, both were convicted in 2001 of the Jan. 5,
1987, murder of Adeline Wilford, 64. Faulkner and Smith are petitioning Kehoe for a
new trial in the case. They also have submitted writs of actual
innocence, because of information their attorneys say is new evidence.........On April 13, Kehoe also heard arguments from
Faulkner and Smith’s lawyers on the introduction of palm prints found in
Wilford’s home that allegedly belong to Ty Anthony Brooks, also known
as Ty Brooks and Tyrone Brooks, 48, of Easton, who currently is in a
Maryland prison. According to court documents, Ty Brooks was
convicted in 2006 of second-degree burglary with a firearm and in 2012
of theft less than $1,000 value. Ty Brooks has been matched with seven latent
prints lifted from Wilford’s home, according to testimony provided by
Alexander Mankevich, a latent print examiner with the Maryland State
Police Crime Lab in Pikesville. Mankevich said palm prints lifted from a washing
machine in Wilford’s home, as well as a window identified as the point
of entry in the 1987 crime, returned an identification for Brooks in
February 2014. Special prosecutor Joseph Michael, deputy state’s
attorney for Washington County, who has been assigned to the case,
said, given Ty Brooks’ aliases, the state questions whether the Ty
Anthony Brooks interviewed Feb. 19, 2015, about the 1987 murder by
Maryland State Police, is the same Ty Anthony Brooks identified by the
Automated Fingerprint Identification System in 2014. “Is that the same person? It’s not my burden (to
prove). It usually is the state’s burden, but now the burden has
shifted,” Michael said to Kehoe. “If it were the state that didn’t make
this connection, would you allow that?”.........During the April 13 hearing, Kehoe excluded
statements provided by Ty Brooks, because Ty Brooks was found guilty of
perjury in 1999. Therefore, Ty Brooks is not considered a reliable or
competent witness and he is restricted from testifying in the future.
Any statements he has made after his conviction of perjury are not
admissible as evidence, Kehoe said. The defense suggested Ty Brooks’ statements would
not be submitted on the basis of them being true, but showing that his
alleged repeat denials he had been in Wilford’s home led to what the
defense considered a blatant lie, given the identification of Ty Brooks’
prints found in the home “We are offering his false statements, offered
for their falsity,” said Smith’s attorney, Olga Akselrod, a senior staff
attorney with the Innocence Project.........The hearing will continue through this week."
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Bulletin: David Faulkner and Jonathan Smith. Washington County; Judge (Stephen Kehoe) continues to hear arguments in request for new trial..."On April 13, Kehoe also heard arguments from Faulkner and Smith’s lawyers on the introduction of palm prints found in Wilford’s home that allegedly belong to Ty Anthony Brooks, also known as Ty Brooks and Tyrone Brooks, 48, of Easton, who currently is in a Maryland prison. According to court documents, Ty Brooks was convicted in 2006 of second-degree burglary with a firearm and in 2012 of theft less than $1,000 value. Ty Brooks has been matched with seven latent prints lifted from Wilford’s home, according to testimony provided by Alexander Mankevich, a latent print examiner with the Maryland State Police Crime Lab in Pikesville. Mankevich said palm prints lifted from a washing machine in Wilford’s home, as well as a window identified as the point of entry in the 1987 crime, returned an identification for Brooks in February 2014. Special prosecutor Joseph Michael, deputy state’s attorney for Washington County, who has been assigned to the case, said, given Ty Brooks’ aliases, the state questions whether the Ty Anthony Brooks interviewed Feb. 19, 2015, about the 1987 murder by Maryland State Police, is the same Ty Anthony Brooks identified by the Automated Fingerprint Identification System in 2014. “Is that the same person? It’s not my burden (to prove). It usually is the state’s burden, but now the burden has shifted,” Michael said to Kehoe. “If it were the state that didn’t make this connection, would you allow that?”...Star Democrat;
