Justin Wolfe: Virginia: From our 'How (incredible) low can they go' department: “Twenty-four years ago, the Commonwealth decid­ed that appel­lant was a guilty man. From that moment, the Commonwealth has done every­thing in its pow­er to ensure Appellant dies in prison, eschew­ing the Constitution, eth­i­cal stric­tures, and Appellant’s own repeat­ed and con­sis­tent asser­tions of actual innocence.” U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE STEPHANIE THACKER IN WOLFE. V. DOTSON (2025)

"It's more than just an appeal victory. 

• The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Justin Wolfe can finally have his evidence of innocence heard in court. 

• Even more powerfully, the Court suggested that Justin is likely to prevail.

For a man once facing almost certain execution on Virginia’s fast-moving death row, this is monumental news."

From Justice. Can't. Wait.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?hl=en#search/%22justin+wolfe/FMfcgzQbgJJmwfJBcvvzZmLVgvqpcpdM

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PASSAGE ONE  OF THE DAY: "In 2011, a fed­er­al judge halt­ed a sched­uled exe­cu­tion date for Mr. Wolfe and dis­missed all of the charges against him, find­ing that pros­e­cu­tors had ignored evi­dence that con­tra­dict­ed their the­o­ry of the crime.  The judge ordered the Commonwealth to release Mr. Wolfe and barred a retri­al.  In 2012, the Fourth Circuit reversed this deci­sion and just days lat­er, local pros­e­cu­tors approached Mr. Barber in prison, where inves­ti­ga­tors, on the record, threat­ened Mr. Barber with the death penal­ty if he exon­er­at­ed Mr. Wolfe dur­ing the retri­al. Because of this threat, Mr. Barber invoked his Fifth Amendment right and refused to tes­ti­fy for Mr. Wolfe. Facing the threat of anoth­er pos­si­ble death sen­tence, in 2016, Mr. Wolfe agreed to plead guilty to new charges and he was sen­tenced to 41 years in prison."

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Citing the threat­en­ing behav­ior of pros­e­cu­tors in this case, the pan­el acknowl­edged that Mr. Wolfe’s  “case is a text­book exam­ple of the con­duct we have rec­og­nized ren­ders a plea involuntary.”

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STORY: "Federal Court Excoriates Prosecutors in Grant of Relief to Former Virginia Death-Sentenced Prisoner Who Has Always Maintained His Innocence," by Communications Associate   Hayley Bedard, published by The Death Penalty Information Center, on July 10, 2025.

GIST: "On July 7, 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of for­mer Virginia death-sen­tenced pris­on­er Justin Wolfe, vacat­ing a low­er court dis­missal of his most recent habeas peti­tion, and paving the way for a new hear­ing where Mr. Wolfe will have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to pro­vide new evi­dence in sup­port of his inno­cence.

Mr. Wolfe was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to death in 2002 for the 2001 mur­der-for-hire of his cannabis sup­pli­er in Northern Virginia. 

In his most recent peti­tion, coun­sel for Mr. Wolfe argue that a 2023 signed dec­la­ra­tion from the indi­vid­ual respon­si­ble for car­ry­ing out the mur­der, exon­er­ates him and proves his actu­al inno­cence.

Attorneys for the Commonwealth pre­vi­ous­ly argued that this dec­la­ra­tion was not new evi­dence, and in 2023, a fed­er­al judge agreed with them.

However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals pan­el dis­agreed, cit­ing the mis­con­duct of pros­e­cu­tors, and find­ing Owen Barber’s 2023 dec­la­ra­tion  “con­sti­tutes new evi­dence” that was not previously available.

“Twenty-four years ago, the Commonwealth decid­ed that appel­lant was a guilty man. From that moment, the Commonwealth has done every­thing in its pow­er to ensure Appellant dies in prison, eschew­ing the Constitution, eth­i­cal stric­tures, and Appellant’s own repeat­ed and con­sis­tent asser­tions of actual innocence.”

U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE STEPHANIE THACKER IN WOLFE. V. DOTSON (2025)

Ultimately, the Fourth Circuit found that the 2023 dec­la­ra­tion from Mr. Barber exon­er­at­ing Mr. Wolfe con­sti­tutes new evi­dence  “because it ren­dered Barber avail­able to [Mr. Wolfe] as an excul­pa­to­ry wit­ness when Barber had pre­vi­ous­ly been unavail­able pur­suant to his invo­ca­tion of his Fifth Amendment privilege.” 

In 2011, a fed­er­al judge halt­ed a sched­uled exe­cu­tion date for Mr. Wolfe and dis­missed all of the charges against him, find­ing that pros­e­cu­tors had ignored evi­dence that con­tra­dict­ed their the­o­ry of the crime. 

The judge ordered the Commonwealth to release Mr. Wolfe and barred a retri­al. 

In 2012, the Fourth Circuit reversed this deci­sion and just days lat­er, local pros­e­cu­tors approached Mr. Barber in prison, where inves­ti­ga­tors, on the record, threat­ened Mr. Barber with the death penal­ty if he exon­er­at­ed Mr. Wolfe dur­ing the retri­al.

Because of this threat, Mr. Barber invoked his Fifth Amendment right and refused to tes­ti­fy for Mr. Wolfe.

 Facing the threat of anoth­er pos­si­ble death sen­tence, in 2016, Mr. Wolfe agreed to plead guilty to new charges and he was sen­tenced to 41 years in prison.

Mr. Wolfe lat­er appealed his con­vic­tion, argu­ing that he made the plea invol­un­tar­i­ly because pros­e­cu­tors engaged in an uncon­sti­tu­tion­al and vin­dic­tive pros­e­cu­tion after fed­er­al courts found his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence had been ini­tial­ly obtained through prosecutorial misconduct.

The Fourth Circuit pan­el found that Mr. Barber’s 2023 sworn dec­la­ra­tion is indeed new evi­dence, and that he is a cred­i­ble wit­ness. 

The pan­el wrote that Mr. Barber  “is an impris­oned man who has strug­gled for decades between telling the truth and pre­serv­ing his own life. We can­not con­done the Commonwealth’s con­duct in cre­at­ing this dichoto­my.” 

Citing the threat­en­ing behav­ior of pros­e­cu­tors in this case, the pan­el acknowl­edged that Mr. Wolfe’s  “case is a text­book exam­ple of the con­duct we have rec­og­nized ren­ders a plea involuntary.”

The entire story can be read at:

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/federal-court-excoriates-prosecutors-in-grant-of-relief-to-former-virginia-death-sentenced-prisoner-who-has-always-maintained-his-innocence

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

———————————————————————————————

FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

—————————————————————————————————

FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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