Post by KC on Jan 13, 2006 20:20:28 GMT -5
A classic snitch story: the home burglar is cut loose in exchange for promised testimony and continues to commit crimes, while prosecutors apparently consider his word sufficiently credible to justify a death penalty case.
01/10/2006 - ST. LOUIS
Prosecutors who planned to seek death sentences against Vester C. Herrod in two rape-murders from the early 1990s have reluctantly let him walk free, saying the unrelated killing of a key witness ruined their cases.
DNA evidence that showed Herrod had sex with both women was not in itself evidence of murder. Another man's DNA was found in one victim; the sister of the other claimed she saw someone else choke her.
Prosecutors planned to drive their cases home with testimony from Daniel L. Ferguson, who they said told them Herrod had made incriminating statements when both were in jail. But Ferguson was stabbed to death while committing a burglary, police said.
So Herrod, 44, walked out of the St. Louis Justice Center on Jan. 5, free of charges after awaiting trial for two years.
"The nature and manner of these charges, when filed, speak volumes as to the potential danger to society," said Assistant Circuit Attorney Rachel Smith. While she said ethics prevent her from offering opinions about Herrod, she added, "No prosecutor can file murder charges unless they believe in those charges."
His public defenders, however, said Tuesday the case was weak from the start, and that police and prosecutors should have dug deeper.
"I think they have just convinced themselves he's a killer," said Sharon Turlington, one of his lawyers. "I am personally convinced he did not kill anyone."
The dismissal does not preclude the refiling of charges if new evidence against him were found, Smith said.
Herrod was arrested in late 2003 as he left prison on parole after convictions for carrying a concealed knife and misdemeanor domestic assault. Routine DNA tests of prison inmates showed he had sex with two women found strangled in different neighborhoods, each near her home, about a year apart.
On Sept. 20, 1992, Donna Lott, 30, was found in the rear yard of a vacant building in the 2200 block of Shenandoah Avenue. On Oct. 25, 1993, Jacquelyn M. Mitchell, 29, was found behind a building in the 5100 block of Cates Avenue.
Herrod's name had never come up in the investigation of Lott's murder, police said, but he was initially questioned about Mitchell's. He had lived next door to Mitchell's mother and was seen with Mitchell a short time before her body was found.
Semen from another man was also found on Mitchell's body. Police said they tracked him down and discounted him as a suspect. Turlington and defense counsel Cindy Dryden said there also was a partial DNA profile of someone else, who could not be identified.
A sister steadfastly maintained that she saw a man other than Herrod choking Lott during a brawl the night before the body was found. Police said they found and discounted him, too, although as recently as a hearing in October the sister reaffirmed her account.
Officials put a lot of stock in what Ferguson, the cellmate, said Herrod told him.
"He (Herrod) knew details only the killer would know," said Smith, the prosecutor. She said Ferguson's testimony "would have been so valuable."
Defense lawyers claimed Ferguson just wanted a lighter sentence, as he got after "snitching' in another case in the early 1990s, and gave details he could have obtained by reading the Post-Dispatch.
Ferguson had been arrested in April 2003 on charges of burglary, stealing over $500, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest. A judge sentenced Ferguson - a persistent offender with at least nine prior convictions for burglary and five for stealing - to 10 years in prison but agreed to suspend the terms if Ferguson completed five years of probation, paid $1,000 in restitution, got treatment and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution of Herrod.
Last August, Ferguson was interrupted while burglarizing a house in the 7000 block of Morganford Road. The occupant chased him outside and stabbed him numerous times, until three construction workers, not realizing the circumstances, struck the occupant with a shovel. Ferguson fled in a truck but lost consciousness, hit a building and died.
Herrod has past arrests on charges of drunken driving, stealing, tampering with an auto and domestic assault. In 1982, he was acquitted by a jury in St. Louis of charges of rape, sodomy and kidnapping. In 1998, he was sentenced to five years in prison for a drug sale.
Police called him "laid back" and "calm" and said he denied the killings.
Herrod could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Turlington said he was living in the St. Louis area and will probably return to working in construction and day labor jobs with his stepfather. Reached Tuesday evening, the stepfather said Herrod was living in a halfway house.
Defense lawyers described Herrod as mentally limited, and said he was "very happy" to be released.
01/10/2006 - ST. LOUIS
Prosecutors who planned to seek death sentences against Vester C. Herrod in two rape-murders from the early 1990s have reluctantly let him walk free, saying the unrelated killing of a key witness ruined their cases.
DNA evidence that showed Herrod had sex with both women was not in itself evidence of murder. Another man's DNA was found in one victim; the sister of the other claimed she saw someone else choke her.
Prosecutors planned to drive their cases home with testimony from Daniel L. Ferguson, who they said told them Herrod had made incriminating statements when both were in jail. But Ferguson was stabbed to death while committing a burglary, police said.
So Herrod, 44, walked out of the St. Louis Justice Center on Jan. 5, free of charges after awaiting trial for two years.
"The nature and manner of these charges, when filed, speak volumes as to the potential danger to society," said Assistant Circuit Attorney Rachel Smith. While she said ethics prevent her from offering opinions about Herrod, she added, "No prosecutor can file murder charges unless they believe in those charges."
His public defenders, however, said Tuesday the case was weak from the start, and that police and prosecutors should have dug deeper.
"I think they have just convinced themselves he's a killer," said Sharon Turlington, one of his lawyers. "I am personally convinced he did not kill anyone."
The dismissal does not preclude the refiling of charges if new evidence against him were found, Smith said.
Herrod was arrested in late 2003 as he left prison on parole after convictions for carrying a concealed knife and misdemeanor domestic assault. Routine DNA tests of prison inmates showed he had sex with two women found strangled in different neighborhoods, each near her home, about a year apart.
On Sept. 20, 1992, Donna Lott, 30, was found in the rear yard of a vacant building in the 2200 block of Shenandoah Avenue. On Oct. 25, 1993, Jacquelyn M. Mitchell, 29, was found behind a building in the 5100 block of Cates Avenue.
Herrod's name had never come up in the investigation of Lott's murder, police said, but he was initially questioned about Mitchell's. He had lived next door to Mitchell's mother and was seen with Mitchell a short time before her body was found.
Semen from another man was also found on Mitchell's body. Police said they tracked him down and discounted him as a suspect. Turlington and defense counsel Cindy Dryden said there also was a partial DNA profile of someone else, who could not be identified.
A sister steadfastly maintained that she saw a man other than Herrod choking Lott during a brawl the night before the body was found. Police said they found and discounted him, too, although as recently as a hearing in October the sister reaffirmed her account.
Officials put a lot of stock in what Ferguson, the cellmate, said Herrod told him.
"He (Herrod) knew details only the killer would know," said Smith, the prosecutor. She said Ferguson's testimony "would have been so valuable."
Defense lawyers claimed Ferguson just wanted a lighter sentence, as he got after "snitching' in another case in the early 1990s, and gave details he could have obtained by reading the Post-Dispatch.
Ferguson had been arrested in April 2003 on charges of burglary, stealing over $500, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest. A judge sentenced Ferguson - a persistent offender with at least nine prior convictions for burglary and five for stealing - to 10 years in prison but agreed to suspend the terms if Ferguson completed five years of probation, paid $1,000 in restitution, got treatment and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution of Herrod.
Last August, Ferguson was interrupted while burglarizing a house in the 7000 block of Morganford Road. The occupant chased him outside and stabbed him numerous times, until three construction workers, not realizing the circumstances, struck the occupant with a shovel. Ferguson fled in a truck but lost consciousness, hit a building and died.
Herrod has past arrests on charges of drunken driving, stealing, tampering with an auto and domestic assault. In 1982, he was acquitted by a jury in St. Louis of charges of rape, sodomy and kidnapping. In 1998, he was sentenced to five years in prison for a drug sale.
Police called him "laid back" and "calm" and said he denied the killings.
Herrod could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Turlington said he was living in the St. Louis area and will probably return to working in construction and day labor jobs with his stepfather. Reached Tuesday evening, the stepfather said Herrod was living in a halfway house.
Defense lawyers described Herrod as mentally limited, and said he was "very happy" to be released.
