Post by pumpkinpie on Jan 21, 2008 19:58:24 GMT -5
Atkins' death sentence commuted to life
Man convicted almost 10 years ago in Langley airman's murder
BY DANIELLE ZIELINSKI 757-247-7870 Daily Press 9:53 PM EST, January 17, 2008
YORK, VA
www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-atkins.0117,0,5762275.story?coll=hr_tab01_layout
A 10-year legal battle over the life of a Hampton man convicted of murder ended Thursday when a York County judge commuted Daryl Atkins' death sentence to life in prison because of misconduct by prosecutors during his first trial.
York-Poquoson Circuit Judge Prentis Smileycq both ruled that prosecutors on Atkins' 1998 murder trial erred by not providing his defense attorneys with details of an August 1997 interview with co-defendant William Jones in which Jones may have changed his story to better match the forensic evidence in the case.
"The judge took this very seriously, gave it a lot of consideration, and arrived at the only appropriate decision," defense attorney Joseph Migliozzicq said after the ruling. "It's fair and it's just."
Neither York-Poquoson Commonwealth's Attorney Eileen Addison nor Cathy Krinickcq both, a former prosecutor who assisted in the case, would comment Thursday. Krinick is now in private practice.
Both Atkins and Jones were charged in the Aug. 16, 1996, killing of Langley Airman Eric Nesbitt. Jones testified against Atkins at trial, saying Atkins fired the shots that killed Nesbitt, and a jury convicted Atkins of capital murder. Jones later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Last year, Leslie Smith,male one of Jones' attorneys, came forward with allegations that Krinick coaxed Jones to change aspects of his story during an August 1997 interview at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
Smith testified at an earlier hearing in December that Krinick turned off a tape recorder during the interview with Jones after his statements didn't match up with the physical evidence of the shooting. While the tape was off, he said, Krinick led Jones back through the events of that night, coaching him on what to say. When the recorder was turned back on, Jones told a different version of his story.
A transcript of that interview was later given to Atkins' attorney in preparation for trial, but prosecutors made no mention of what occurred during the time when the tape was off, according to testimony from Krinick Thursday. Defense attorneys also pointed out that without the diagrams used during the interview, one could not tell that Jones' story had changed just by reading the transcript.
According to evidence presented Thursday and during the December hearing, the recorder was off for a total of 16 minutes during the two-hour interview.
Krinick, Addison and York-Poquoson Sheriff's Lt. Troy Lyons all testified Thursday that there was a break in the interview when the tape was off, but Krinick and Addison both testified that Jones was never told what to say, only encouraged to demonstrate the events of that night because he had trouble discerning left from right.
"We didn't say anything to him," Krinick testified. "We didn't tell him 'You better get your story straight.'"
In explaining his decision Thursday, Smiley said he had to make a determination of what occurred during the 16 minutes the tape was off, whether that information was potentially beneficial to Atkins, whether it was withheld from him, and whether it could have changed the outcome of the trial.
Smiley said he took Smith's testimony as fact because Smith had nothing to gain by coming forward.
His decision to commute the sentence marks an end to 10 years of legal wrangling, resulting in multiple trials and a U.S. Supreme Court decision barring execution of the mentally retarded. Atkins, who is of low intelligence, was scheduled for another trial in April to determine his mental status, but that is now unnecessary.
For Atkins, the decision means not only a chance to live, but a better quality of life in prison. Defense attorney Richard Parker said Atkins would be moved off of death row and into the general prison population as soon as the judge's order arrived.
"He's (still) an inmate, but his life is better," Parker said. "Significantly."
For the family of Eric Nesbitt, the ruling comes as a disappointment.
"It seems he ought to get what he did to Eric," Nesbitt's uncle Steve Sloan said Thursday. "That's the way I feel about it. It's only right."
Copyright © 2008, Newport News, Va., Daily Pr
vadp.org/news/death-penalty-cases-in-virginia/atkins-death-sentence-commuted-to-life.html
Man convicted almost 10 years ago in Langley airman's murder
BY DANIELLE ZIELINSKI 757-247-7870 Daily Press 9:53 PM EST, January 17, 2008
YORK, VA
www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-atkins.0117,0,5762275.story?coll=hr_tab01_layout
A 10-year legal battle over the life of a Hampton man convicted of murder ended Thursday when a York County judge commuted Daryl Atkins' death sentence to life in prison because of misconduct by prosecutors during his first trial.
York-Poquoson Circuit Judge Prentis Smileycq both ruled that prosecutors on Atkins' 1998 murder trial erred by not providing his defense attorneys with details of an August 1997 interview with co-defendant William Jones in which Jones may have changed his story to better match the forensic evidence in the case.
"The judge took this very seriously, gave it a lot of consideration, and arrived at the only appropriate decision," defense attorney Joseph Migliozzicq said after the ruling. "It's fair and it's just."
Neither York-Poquoson Commonwealth's Attorney Eileen Addison nor Cathy Krinickcq both, a former prosecutor who assisted in the case, would comment Thursday. Krinick is now in private practice.
Both Atkins and Jones were charged in the Aug. 16, 1996, killing of Langley Airman Eric Nesbitt. Jones testified against Atkins at trial, saying Atkins fired the shots that killed Nesbitt, and a jury convicted Atkins of capital murder. Jones later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Last year, Leslie Smith,male one of Jones' attorneys, came forward with allegations that Krinick coaxed Jones to change aspects of his story during an August 1997 interview at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
Smith testified at an earlier hearing in December that Krinick turned off a tape recorder during the interview with Jones after his statements didn't match up with the physical evidence of the shooting. While the tape was off, he said, Krinick led Jones back through the events of that night, coaching him on what to say. When the recorder was turned back on, Jones told a different version of his story.
A transcript of that interview was later given to Atkins' attorney in preparation for trial, but prosecutors made no mention of what occurred during the time when the tape was off, according to testimony from Krinick Thursday. Defense attorneys also pointed out that without the diagrams used during the interview, one could not tell that Jones' story had changed just by reading the transcript.
According to evidence presented Thursday and during the December hearing, the recorder was off for a total of 16 minutes during the two-hour interview.
Krinick, Addison and York-Poquoson Sheriff's Lt. Troy Lyons all testified Thursday that there was a break in the interview when the tape was off, but Krinick and Addison both testified that Jones was never told what to say, only encouraged to demonstrate the events of that night because he had trouble discerning left from right.
"We didn't say anything to him," Krinick testified. "We didn't tell him 'You better get your story straight.'"
In explaining his decision Thursday, Smiley said he had to make a determination of what occurred during the 16 minutes the tape was off, whether that information was potentially beneficial to Atkins, whether it was withheld from him, and whether it could have changed the outcome of the trial.
Smiley said he took Smith's testimony as fact because Smith had nothing to gain by coming forward.
His decision to commute the sentence marks an end to 10 years of legal wrangling, resulting in multiple trials and a U.S. Supreme Court decision barring execution of the mentally retarded. Atkins, who is of low intelligence, was scheduled for another trial in April to determine his mental status, but that is now unnecessary.
For Atkins, the decision means not only a chance to live, but a better quality of life in prison. Defense attorney Richard Parker said Atkins would be moved off of death row and into the general prison population as soon as the judge's order arrived.
"He's (still) an inmate, but his life is better," Parker said. "Significantly."
For the family of Eric Nesbitt, the ruling comes as a disappointment.
"It seems he ought to get what he did to Eric," Nesbitt's uncle Steve Sloan said Thursday. "That's the way I feel about it. It's only right."
Copyright © 2008, Newport News, Va., Daily Pr
vadp.org/news/death-penalty-cases-in-virginia/atkins-death-sentence-commuted-to-life.html