Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 27, 2006 10:57:44 GMT -5
04/25/2006 - CHARLOTTESVILLE — Earl Washington Jr.’s lawsuit over a murder conviction that sent him to death row comes down to one line in a police report:
Washington “gave pertinent information about the crime that no one knew with the exception of himself.”
It was written by State Police Special Agent Curtis Reese Wilmore, one of the lead investigators who interrogated Washington in the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams. Washington’s lawyers argue that the sentence means Wilmore coached the confession and then perpetrated the story that Washington’s statement was all his own.
Wilmore died in 1994. Lawyers for his estate argue that Wilmore was a seasoned investigator with a reputation for integrity. Washington confessed without prompting, Wilmore’s lawyers said.
The trial began Monday in U.S. District Court. Wilmore’s son and daughter were in the courtroom.
There is no dispute about Washington’s innocence. In 2000, DNA testing revealed that semen taken from the crime scene in the bedroom of Williams’ apartment in Culpeper eliminated Washington . Earlier DNA testing had already been the basis for then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s decision to commute Washington’s sentence from death to life in prison.
Washington has been released and now lives with his wife, Pam, in Virginia Beach.
Washington served nearly 18 years in prison for Williams’ murder and an unrelated assault on an elderly woman. Nine and a half years of his sentence for Williams’ murder was spent on death row, and Washington came within nine days of execution. One of his lawyers, Peter Neufeld, said in his opening statement that Washington has psychological scars from his time on death row, where he could see the electric chair he was set to die in.
Neufeld told jurors that Wilmore had been trained to be a careful interrogator, allowing a suspect to describe a crime in detail by asking open-ended questions. That’s how he started his interview with Washington, Neufeld said. But Washington gave wrong answers about details in the case.
Washington at first said the victim was black. She was white. He said he stabbed her a couple of times, but Williams’ body bore 38 stab wounds. Washington said he and Williams were alone in the apartment, but the crime happened in front of her two young children.
The interview came nearly a year after Williams’ death, Neufeld said, and the case had a high profile in the small town of Culpeper , about 40 miles north of Charlottesville.
“Wilmore decided to cross the line,” Neufeld said. “He decided to help him give the right answers to corroborate his confession.”
Neufeld argued that Wil-more fed Washington details about the murder that only the killer and investigators would have known, such as the location of a blood-stained shirt left in the apartment, and that a halter top was removed from Williams.
“We’re not saying that Curtis Reese Wilmore tried to frame an innocent man,” Neufeld told jurors. “Our position is that Curtis Reese Wilmore sincerely believed Earl Washington committed the crime and he was questioning a guilty man. But whether or not he believed Earl Washington was guilty is not a defense.”
William Broaddus, one of the laywers representing Wilmore’s estate, told jurors there was no evidence to support Neufeld’s theory. Wil-more’s report included wrong answers Washington gave, Broaddus said. Wilmore wrote that Washington first pointed to the wrong apartment when police asked him to identify the crime scene.
“Ask yourselves: Would this man deliberately lie?” Broaddus said of Wilmore.
If the trial is about accountability, Broaddus said, jurors must also look at Washington.
“Is he to be held accountable for telling Wilmore he did it?”
Lawyers expect the trial to last about two weeks. The first witness was Richard Leo, a professor of criminology and psychology who studies false confessions. He said people like Washington, who is mildly mentally retarded, are susceptible to making false confessions.
Washington “gave pertinent information about the crime that no one knew with the exception of himself.”
It was written by State Police Special Agent Curtis Reese Wilmore, one of the lead investigators who interrogated Washington in the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lynn Williams. Washington’s lawyers argue that the sentence means Wilmore coached the confession and then perpetrated the story that Washington’s statement was all his own.
Wilmore died in 1994. Lawyers for his estate argue that Wilmore was a seasoned investigator with a reputation for integrity. Washington confessed without prompting, Wilmore’s lawyers said.
The trial began Monday in U.S. District Court. Wilmore’s son and daughter were in the courtroom.
There is no dispute about Washington’s innocence. In 2000, DNA testing revealed that semen taken from the crime scene in the bedroom of Williams’ apartment in Culpeper eliminated Washington . Earlier DNA testing had already been the basis for then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s decision to commute Washington’s sentence from death to life in prison.
Washington has been released and now lives with his wife, Pam, in Virginia Beach.
Washington served nearly 18 years in prison for Williams’ murder and an unrelated assault on an elderly woman. Nine and a half years of his sentence for Williams’ murder was spent on death row, and Washington came within nine days of execution. One of his lawyers, Peter Neufeld, said in his opening statement that Washington has psychological scars from his time on death row, where he could see the electric chair he was set to die in.
Neufeld told jurors that Wilmore had been trained to be a careful interrogator, allowing a suspect to describe a crime in detail by asking open-ended questions. That’s how he started his interview with Washington, Neufeld said. But Washington gave wrong answers about details in the case.
Washington at first said the victim was black. She was white. He said he stabbed her a couple of times, but Williams’ body bore 38 stab wounds. Washington said he and Williams were alone in the apartment, but the crime happened in front of her two young children.
The interview came nearly a year after Williams’ death, Neufeld said, and the case had a high profile in the small town of Culpeper , about 40 miles north of Charlottesville.
“Wilmore decided to cross the line,” Neufeld said. “He decided to help him give the right answers to corroborate his confession.”
Neufeld argued that Wil-more fed Washington details about the murder that only the killer and investigators would have known, such as the location of a blood-stained shirt left in the apartment, and that a halter top was removed from Williams.
“We’re not saying that Curtis Reese Wilmore tried to frame an innocent man,” Neufeld told jurors. “Our position is that Curtis Reese Wilmore sincerely believed Earl Washington committed the crime and he was questioning a guilty man. But whether or not he believed Earl Washington was guilty is not a defense.”
William Broaddus, one of the laywers representing Wilmore’s estate, told jurors there was no evidence to support Neufeld’s theory. Wil-more’s report included wrong answers Washington gave, Broaddus said. Wilmore wrote that Washington first pointed to the wrong apartment when police asked him to identify the crime scene.
“Ask yourselves: Would this man deliberately lie?” Broaddus said of Wilmore.
If the trial is about accountability, Broaddus said, jurors must also look at Washington.
“Is he to be held accountable for telling Wilmore he did it?”
Lawyers expect the trial to last about two weeks. The first witness was Richard Leo, a professor of criminology and psychology who studies false confessions. He said people like Washington, who is mildly mentally retarded, are susceptible to making false confessions.