This Innocence Fraud case also
proves that even though police or prosecutors may have committed misconduct, it
does not mean that the defendant was innocent of the crime.
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Justin
Michael Wolfe listens to one of his attorneys during his 2002 capital murder
trial in Manassas, Va. After his conviction and death sentence were reversed,
he pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder, 15 years and two weeks after
the slaying of Daniel Petrole Jr. (Dylan Moore/The Potomac News)
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INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/2016/03/vindicated-former-death-row-in.html
Yet another
former death row inmate touted as actually innocent and wrongly convicted is
now known to be actually guilty.
Tom Jackman reports for the WaPo:
Justin Michael Wolfe, whose capital murder conviction and death sentence was reversed amid concerns about prosecutorial misconduct, pleaded guilty to murder in Prince William County on Tuesday, admitting in a handwritten statement that he and another man plotted the 2001 robbery and slaying of a fellow marijuana dealer.
It was a stunning reversal from Wolfe, who had proclaimed his innocence for 15 years. Wolfe had argued, at times from Virginia's death row, that the murder of Daniel Petrole Jr., the son of a decorated Secret Service agent, was the work of a rogue drug associate. The case featured a co-defendant repeatedly changing his story about the slaying, a federal district judge ordering Wolfe's release from jail in 2012, and two federal courts chastising Prince William prosecutors for withholding evidence from the defense.
* * *
In a four-page handwritten statement to the court, Wolfe essentially validated the prosecution's consistent version of events: Wolfe and Owen Merton Barber IV decided to rob and kill Petrole because they knew he would have a large amount of cash and marijuana and feared that a robbery alone would invite revenge. Wolfe acknowledged that he owed Petrole tens of thousands of dollars from continuing drug transactions, and he said that he had planned to split the proceeds with Barber and erase a debt Barber owed him.
* * *
Wolfe wrote that he and Barber initially planned only to rob Petrole, as he delivered a marijuana shipment to them, but "eventually we both agreed that it would be necessary to kill Danny because he was probably going to resist the robbery or figure out who did it and have to get revenge. ... I am responsible for Danny's death even though I didn't pull the trigger. If I had not been involved Danny would never have been killed."
This is a clearly proper case for a nontriggerman to be considered fully culpable for the crime. Where conspirators both intend and premeditate the victim's death, which one actually did the dirty work is virtually irrelevant.
If you want
to see the Death Penalty Information Center's page on Wolfe, you might
want to do so promptly before they take it down. The DPIC's 2012
press release refers to Wolfe as "vindicated." That word choice
creates the impression in readers that he was actually innocent while still giving
them enough wiggle room to claim later that they never actually said he was
innocent.
3 Comments
This is obvious to anyone who thinks for more than two seconds about it---but the press always uncritically passed along that DPIC BS.
Justin Wolfe admits role in
drug dealer’s slaying, enters guilty plea after stint on death row
By Tom Jackman and T. Rees Shapiro
March 29
Justin Michael Wolfe, whose capital
murder conviction and death sentence were reversed amid concerns about
prosecutorial misconduct, pleaded guilty to murder in Prince William County on
Tuesday, admitting in a handwritten statement that he and another man plotted
the 2001 robbery and slaying of a fellow marijuana dealer.
It was a stunning reversal from Wolfe,
who had proclaimed his innocence for 15 years. Wolfe had argued, at times from
Virginia’s death row, that the murder of Daniel Petrole Jr., the son of a
decorated Secret Service agent, was the work of a rogue drug associate. The
case featured a co-defendant repeatedly changing his story about the slaying, a
federal district judge ordering Wolfe’s release from jail in 2012, and two
federal courts chastising Prince William prosecutors for withholding evidence
from the defense.
Wolfe pleaded guilty to a charge of
first-degree felony murder, use of a firearm, and a drug charge, part of an
agreement with prosecutors that will allow a judge to sentence him to a range
of 29 to 41 years in prison. He will get credit for the 15 years he already has
served.
In a four-page handwritten statement
to the court, Wolfe essentially validated the prosecution’s consistent version
of events: Wolfe and Owen Merton Barber IV decided to rob and kill Petrole
because they knew he would have a large amount of cash and marijuana and feared
that a robbery alone would invite revenge. Wolfe acknowledged that he owed
Petrole tens of thousands of dollars from continuing drug transactions, and he
said that he had planned to split the proceeds with Barber and erase a debt
Barber owed him.
The statement, dated March 19, 2016,
addresses Petrole’s parents, and concludes: “I am sorry
for what I did to your son.”
Wolfe entered his plea Tuesday morning
before Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Carroll A. Weimer Jr., and he
is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20. It is the first time Wolfe has taken
responsibility for the slaying; he had always maintained that it would make no
sense for him to kill his marijuana supplier, and his lawyers argued that
Barber carried out the robbery and slaying on his own.
Wolfe wrote that he and Barber
initially planned only to rob Petrole, as he delivered a marijuana shipment to
them, but “eventually we both agreed that it would be
necessary to kill Danny because he was probably going to resist the robbery or
figure out who did it and have to get revenge. … I am responsible for Danny’s
death even though I didn’t pull the trigger. If I had not been involved Danny
would never have been killed.”
Petrole, 21, was found shot to death
in front of his Bristow townhouse in March 2001. Wolfe, then 20, and Barber,
then, 22, former classmates at Chantilly High School, were soon arrested.
Barber agreed to plead guilty and testify that Wolfe had ordered up the slaying
of Petrole, in exchange for a relatively light sentence — he received 38 years
in prison. Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Wolfe, and a jury imposed
it in January 2002, disbelieving Wolfe’s testimony denying any connection
to the murder.
The killing helped Prince William
County police uncover what was then one of the most significant drug operations
in the region’s history, leading authorities to an extensive network of
suburban teenagers and young men who sold high-grade marijuana and ecstasy to
thousands of customers throughout Northern Virginia — most of them
high-schoolers.
Though Wolfe all along admitted his
role in the drug trade and his extravagant, free-wheeling lifestyle, Wolfe
maintained his innocence in the murder. Then in 2005, Barber filed an affidavit
saying he had lied in court, and Wolfe hadn’t ordered the murder. In 2006,
Barber took the witness stand during one of Wolfe’s appeal hearings and reversed
himself again, saying Wolfe did order the murder.
Finally in 2011, after Wolfe had spent
nine years on death row, a federal judge in Norfolk ordered a new trial, saying
Prince William prosecutors withheld or ignored crucial evidence and
potential testimony that could have helped Wolfe’s defense. U.S. District Judge
Raymond A. Jackson wrote that the government’s case against Wolfe was
“tenuous” and accused prosecutors of having “stifled a vigorous truth-seeking
process in this criminal case.” A federal appeals court upheld Jackson in 2012,
and Jackson ordered Wolfe released, before the appeals court stayed that order.
Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney
Paul B. Ebert and top assistant Richard A. Conway stepped aside amid the
scrutiny, and Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh stepped
in, over defense objections that he was too close to Ebert. The case resumed,
with Morrogh saying he would again seek the death penalty for Wolfe.
Wolfe went through numerous attorneys,
including representation by the Virginia Innocence Project, before being
appointed defense lawyers Joseph Flood, Daniel Lopez and Bernadette Donovan.
They apparently launched plea negotiations with Morrogh, and Wolfe wrote the
statement admitting his role in Petrole’s murder. The plea session itself was
not publicized and was not attended by the media.
“Justin entered a guilty
plea today in order to take responsibility for his crime and to give the
Petrole family and his own family some finality if not closure,” Flood said. “The plea offer extended by the Special Prosecutors last week
was the result of long negotiations and was the first time since the inception
of this case that he was ever offered a plea. Mr. Wolfe understands that he
cannot take back this tragedy or make up for the pain he has caused, but is
hopeful that by admitting and apologizing for what he did and bringing these
proceedings to an end, he may help Danny’s family to heal.”
Wolfe’s letter said that he had been
receiving large marijuana shipments from Petrole for some time, and that in the
months prior to March 2001, Petrole had “fronted” him the drugs, not requiring
immediate payment. Then, he wrote, “Owen asked if he could rob him for the
money and marijuana. At first I played it off as a joke but Owen took it serious
and I agreed that it would be okay.” Wolfe then describes Petrole delivering
the marijuana, alerting Barber to Petrole’s location, and staying in touch with
him before and after the shooting, later meeting him at a bar. Barber later
testified that he followed Petrole for 30 miles before shooting him to death
outside of Petrole’s townhome.
“Maybe it seems easy for me to say
‘I’m sorry,'” Wolfe wrote, “but it’s actually the hardest thing I have ever
done because it means I have to admit what I did which contradicts what I said
and trial and the position that I have taken for all of my appeals and I am
very afraid that I will let the people I love down.”
Morrogh said the defense team showed
him the letter and that he spoke to Petrole’s father, who conferred with the
rest of his family.
“They were interested in bringing the
case to a conclusion. They were really interested in him admitting what he
did,” Morrogh said. Morrogh said the plea and sentence range was “a fair
compromise given the evidence in the case. … No one’s completely happy, it’s
fair to say, and the Petroles feel they’re going to get some good measure of
justice in the case.”
The plea ensures that Wolfe
will not face the death penalty in the case; under Virginia’s sentencing rules,
Wolfe would be eligible for release in approximately 10 to 20 years, or in his
late 40s or early 50s, depending on the judge’s sentence.
OTHER LINKS:
WHAT’S WRONG
WITH THE WRONGFUL CONVICTION MOVEMENT BY MARTIN PREIB
Crime Lab
Report
INNOCENCE
FRAUD PROJECT:
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