| North Carolina exonerated its seventh death row prisoner today |
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North Carolina exonerated its seventh death row prisoner today, the 128th
exoneree in the United States. Glen Chapman suffered 15 years on death row because police withheld evidence, and lost, misplaced or destroyed documents, prosecutors used weak, circumstantial evidence, a lead investigator gave false testimony, and his defense counsel gave ineffective assistance. There’s more: One of the victims in the case may not have been murdered, but instead died of a drug overdose. Glen Chapman’s case illustrates why North Carolina’s General Assembly, Supreme Court and governor should suspend executions until they can resolve myriad questions…. To begin with: How were seven innocent people, who collectively spent more than three decades on death row, sentenced to death in the first place? Are there any more innocents condemned to die and, if so, why? Why are the worst of the worst almost never found on death row? Is justice served by sentencing the severely mentally ill to die? How does our system allow people to be sentenced to death because of their race or the victims’ race? Why does our system repeatedly allow prosecutors to win death cases by breaking laws and acting unethically? How many more millions of dollars are North Carolina taxpayers going to be asked to spend on Old South justice while these problems go unsolved? The press release by Glen Chapman’s attorneys follows: For Immediate Release: For more information contact: April 2, 2008 Frank Goldsmith Jessica Leaven INNOCENT MAN PUT ON DEATH ROW BY LYING POLICE OFFICER FINALLY SET FREE NEWTON, NC – Today Glen Edward Chapman, who spent 15 years on North Carolina’s death row for crimes he did not commit, is walking out of prison a free man. Chapman was sentenced to death for the 1992 murders of Betty Jean Ramseur and Tenene Yvette Conley in Hickory. Last November Superior Court Judge Robert C. Ervin ordered a new trial for Chapman, citing withheld evidence, “lost, misplaced or destroyed” documents, the use of weak, circumstantial evidence, false testimony by the lead investigator, and ineffective assistance of defense counsel. Ervin also cited evidence that Ms. Conley may not have been murdered, but instead died of a drug overdose. Catawba County District Attorney James Gaither, Jr. dismissed the charges against Chapman today. Chapman’s lawyers, Frank Goldsmith and Jessica Leaven, are very pleased with their client’s release for which they fought long and hard. “Edward has always maintained, and we have always believed in, his innocence,” said Goldsmith. “Justice has not been served for the families of Ms. Ramseur and Ms. Conley, and we hope their deaths will be reinvestigated.” Goldsmith added, “We are extremely grateful to Judge Ervin and to Mr. Gaither for doing the right thing.” Judge Ervin found that each of the lead detectives assigned to the cases by the Hickory Police Department had covered up exculpatory evidence that pointed to Chapman’s innocence and that was inconsistent with the State’s theory of his guilt. In addition, Judge Ervin found that Hickory Police Department Detective Dennis Rhoney had perjured himself at Chapman’s original trial, and that his testimony at the hearings conducted by Judge Ervin was “not credible.” In his order, Judge Ervin also cited evidence presented by a forensic pathologist, Donald Jason, who found the cause of Conley’s death “undetermined.” Dr. Jason found no life-threatening injuries and suggested a possible cocaine overdose. Judge Ervin wrote that Dr. Jason’s report “strongly indicates that Terene Conley’s death was not a murder. The notion that a defendant can be put to death when no crime in fact occurred is troubling at best.” Additionally, Judge Ervin found ineffective assistance of counsel by Chapman’s trial attorneys, Robert Adams and Thomas Portwood, for failing to adequately investigate the facts. Adams has been disciplined by the North Carolina State Bar and Portwood died of an alcohol-related illness. Portwood represented Ronnie Frye in his death penalty trial less than a year before Chapman’s trial started. Portwood admitted that he was drinking 12 shots of rum nightly during Frye’s trial. Frye was executed in 2001. Portwood was later removed from another death penalty case and entered alcohol detoxification treatment. Stephen Dear Executive Director People of Faith Against the Death Penalty 110 W. Main St., Ste. 2G Carrboro, NC 27510 919.933.7567 Office 919.622.1739 Cell 919.933.5611 Fax www.pfadp.org |