University Law students working for the Innocence Project are currently reviewing the case of Justin Wolfe, a man convicted of murder-for-hire in Northern Virginia.
In 2001, Owen Barber shot and killed Daniel Petrole, a major marijuana dealer in Northern Virginia. As Barber was facing the death penalty, he made a deal with the prosecution to serve 38 years and testify against Wolfe instead, Legal Director Matthew Engle said. Wolfe was convicted as a result.
Barber eventually recanted his testimony, and a Norfolk judge ruled that he was legally innocent. The defense, however, must still prove that Wolfe's trial was unfair to overturn the conviction, Engle said.
Wolfe therefore was given access to the prosecution's files, and reviewing those files has been a major component of the Law students' work so far.
Twelve second- and third-year students serve in the clinic each year and attempt to overturn wrongful convictions in Virginia. The project receives dozens of requests for help from inmates each week, Engle said, but can only accept a very small portion. Engle runs the program along with Director of Investigations Deirdre Enright.
Each student was given the files for particular witnesses, which included audiotapes and police reports. After mastering the facts for their witnesses, students "go investigate and go search for them, and then sometimes interview them," third-year Law student Bernadette Donovan said.
King & Spalding, which is representing Wolfe pro bono, submitted a brief Jan. 18 arguing that the 2002 trial was unfair and that Wolfe would not have been convicted without Barber's testimony at the time. The Law students' work was instrumental to this brief, Engle said, which is now before a Norfolk federal judge.
"We had a tremendously important role in the briefs, and we had students working around the clock over their Winter Breaks to get that done," he added.
Engle said he expects to hear back from the judge sometime between six weeks and four months from now. "If the judge rejects this, [Wolfe] could be executed," he said.
In the meantime, the Law students continue to work on cases other than Wolfe's through the Innocent Project.
"It's a good way of getting some more practical firsthand experience," second-year Law student Michelle Harrison said, "and it was sort of an area I didn't have too much familiarity with"
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