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Thread: Michelle Elizabeth Byrom - Mississippi

  1. #41
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    Lawyers discuss bond in Michelle Byrom's death penalty retrial

    IUKA, Miss. (AP) — Former death row inmate Michelle Byrom's attorney says a judge could consider whether to release her on bond while she awaits her second trial in her husband's death in 1999.

    But David Calder of Oxford tells The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/1k2kYLQ) that Byrom could not post even a $10,000 bond.

    Byrom was sent to the Tishomingo County jail after the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned her capital murder conviction on March 31, ordering a new trial.

    Calder says her health problems include lupus, arthritis and hip troubles, and she uses a wheelchair.

    Longtime defense lawyer John White of Iuka says that counties historically have not wanted to pay medical expenses for seriously ill people who don't pose a threat to society. He says keeping Byrom in jail would be expensive.

    http://www.sunherald.com/2014/07/27/...#storylink=cpy

  2. #42
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    Michelle Byrom: Off death row, back on trial

    Michelle Byrom was on her way to becoming the first woman executed in Mississippi since World War II — until the state Supreme Court stepped in and freed her from death row, ordering a new trial.

    Now, nearly 10 months later, her new capital murder trial is set for Sept. 1. “We’ll be ready,” said District Attorney Richard Bowen.

    In 2000, a Tishomingo County Circuit Court jury convicted Byrom in the alleged murder-for-hire scheme of killing her husband, Edward Sr., and the judge sentenced her to death.

    On March 23, The Clarion-Ledger reported that the jury never saw two letters her son, Edward Jr., wrote her in which he detailed how he killed his father. The jury also never heard from a psychologist who said Junior gave details of how he killed his father.

    Junior, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit capital murder, has been free since last August on earned supervised release.

    Reached by telephone, he denied he shot his father, but when asked about a psychologist’s statement that he admitted killing his father, he hung up.

    Eight days after The Clarion-Ledger’s story appeared, the state Supreme Court threw out her conviction.

    Prosecutors maintain Byrom is guilty, but Junior's letters tell this story:

    On the evening of June 3, 1999, he grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam and headed to a boat dock near Iuka.

    “I sat and watched the night, like a drunken sailor, and the time flew,” he wrote in a letter. “It was so beautiful. It really relaxed me a lot, so I sat and cried and drank and cried some more.”

    Back home, his alcoholic and abusive father slapped him and shoved him against a bookcase, cursing him and saying he was a “f—ing mistake to begin with.”

    The next day, Byrom was in the hospital with pneumonia and other ailments after ingesting rat poison — something she had reportedly done for three years because of a mental disorder.

    Later in the day, Junior wrote that his father entered his bedroom, “going off on me, calling me bastard, no good, mistake and telling me I'm inconsiderate” before slapping him and leaving.

    “As I sat on my bed, tears of rage flowing, remembering my childhood, my anger building and building. I went to my car, got the 9mm (gun) and walked to his room and peeked in, and he was asleep.

    “I walked about two steps in the door, and screamed and shut my eyes. When I heard him move, I started firing.”

    Deputies found his father dead in a darkened room, where the father watched porn movies that included his wife, who told authorities her husband had forced her to have sex with other men so he could film them.

    Junior asked a deputy if his father, who had worked as an electrician for the Tennessee Valley Authority, had a heart attack.

    Then Junior told the sheriff that his mother had hired someone to shoot his father and was unaware who had.

    The sheriff drove to the hospital, where the mother, Michelle, was, and told her that Junior had told them everything about her hiring somebody.

    “He didn’t know which person you had got,” the sheriff said.

    “Hold on a minute,” Byrom replied. “I don’t know. …"

    “Don’t leave him hanging out here to bite the big bullet,” the sheriff said.

    “No, he’s not going to,” she replied. “I wouldn’t let him.”

    “Well,” the sheriff said, “he’s fixing to.”

    “Well, I will take all the responsibility. I’ll do it.”

    After she gave several statements, saying she was involved, deputies arrested her, her son and his friend, Joey Gillis, described as the “hit man,” and charged them all with capital murder.

    At trial, Junior testified his mother hired Gillis to kill his father, Edward Sr., in 1999 for $15,000 — money she would pay from life insurance proceeds.

    Convinced her case would be reversed on appeal, her defense lawyers at the time introduced no mitigating evidence.

    Lacking such evidence, Circuit Judge Thomas Gardner sentenced Byrom to death.

    In one of his last letters, Junior told his mother, “You are all I have, and they’re trying to take that away from me now, but Mom I’m gonna tell you right now who killed Dad ‘cause I’m sick and tired of all the lies. I did, and it wasn’t for money, it wasn’t for all the abuse, it was because I can’t kill myself.”

    For his part, Gillis has admitted he helped Junior get rid of the gun after the crime, but denied killing the father.

    Tests run by deputies showed gunpowder residue on Junior, not on Gillis.

    Gillis pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. He, too, is free now from prison.

    Although the state Supreme Court ordered Byrom a new trial, she remained on death row until July 19, when she was sent to the Tishomingo County jail, said John R. White of Iuka, one of her court-appointed lawyers.

    He and the MacArthur Justice Center are working on numerous motions before Circuit Judge Paul S. Funderburk, he said. “Those will be filed shortly.”

    When he met Jan. 8 with Byrom, she was still suffering from lupus, COPD and other health woes, he said. The 58-year-old woman is mostly restricted to her wheelchair, he said.

    Tishomingo County Sheriff Glenn Whitlock said all her medical expenses are being covered through their contract with the Chattanooga-based Southern Health Partners.

    Bowen said he has no qualms prosecuting Byrom. “She gave not one, but three detailed statements of what she did.”

    http://www.clarionledger.com/story/n...rial/21940253/
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  3. #43
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    Almost executed by Mississippi, Michelle Byrom free

    By Jerry Mitchell
    The Clarion-Ledger

    IUKA — Michelle Byrom — who came close to being the first woman executed in Mississippi since World War II — emerged free Friday for the first time in 16 years.

    Byrom, who maintains her innocence, pleaded no contest to a charge she conspired to kill her husband, Edward Sr., in 1999, and the judge sentenced her to the time she has already served.

    In the same courthouse where she was previously sent to death row, she left a free woman.

    She spent 14 of those 16 years on death row.

    "It's been a long, arduous journey. The outcome is appropriate, given the history of the case," said her attorney, John R. White.

    Byrom had exhausted her state and federal appeals when The Clarion-Ledger and others pointed out in March 2014 that the jury never saw the letters her son, Edward Jr., wrote, confessing to the murder. The jury also never heard from a psychologist who said Junior gave details of how he killed his father.

    Before the month ended, the state Supreme Court tossed out her conviction and ordered a new trial.

    Friday's sentencing ends a long road for Byrom, who came out of the courthouse in a wheelchair. The 58-year-old woman has been battling lupus and other health issues.

    At her 2000 capital murder trial, Junior testified that Byrom hired "hit man" Joey Gillis for $10,000 to $15,000 to kill Edward Sr. — money he said she planned to get from insurance proceeds.

    The jury convicted Byrom of capital murder for this alleged murder-for-hire scheme.

    Convinced her case would be reversed, her defense lawyers at the time introduced no mitigating evidence, which could have included her being a lifetime victim of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

    Her stepfather abused her and, by age 15, she was working as a stripper. Edward Sr., who had a special darkened room to watch pornography, reportedly forced her to have sex with other men, which he videotaped.

    Without any mitigating evidence, Circuit Judge Thomas Gardner sentenced Byrom to death.

    In her appeal to the state Supreme Court, three justices said Byrom deserved a new trial, but five justices upheld her conviction.

    Justice Jess Dickinson wrote at the time, "I have attempted to conjure up in my imagination a more egregious case of ineffective assistance of counsel during the sentencing phase of a capital case. I cannot."

    Months after Byrom's conviction, Gillis' attorney learned about Junior's statement to the psychologist and challenged the accusations against his client. The defense also learned that authorities found gunpowder residue on Junior, rather than Gillis.

    Gillis wound up pleading to accessory after the fact for helping Edward Jr. get rid of the gun, and in 2009, he walked free from prison. He has since said in a sworn statement that he did not shoot Edward Sr.

    Junior, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit capital murder, has been free since August 2013 on earned supervised release.

    When The Clarion-Ledger questioned him by telephone, he denied he shot his father, but when asked about a psychologist's statement that he admitted killing his father, he hung up.

    While authorities have insisted they believe Byrom was "the instigator" behind the killing of Edward Sr., Junior's letters tell a much different story.

    On the evening of June 3, 1999, Junior grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam and headed to a boat dock near Iuka.

    "I sat and watched the night, like a drunken sailor, and the time flew," he wrote. "It was so beautiful. It really relaxed me a lot, so I sat and cried and drank and cried some more."

    Back home, his alcoholic and abusive father slapped him and shoved him against a bookcase, cursing him and saying he was a "f—ing mistake to begin with."

    The next day, Byrom was in the hospital with pneumonia and other ailments after ingesting rat poison — something she had reportedly done for three years because of a mental disorder.

    Later in the day, Junior wrote that his father entered his bedroom, "going off on me, calling me bastard, no good, mistake and telling me I'm inconsiderate" before slapping him and leaving.

    "As I sat on my bed, tears of rage flowing, remembering my childhood, my anger building and building. I went to my car, got the 9mm (gun) and walked to his room and peeked in, and he was asleep.

    "I walked about two steps in the door, and screamed and shut my eyes. When I heard him move, I started firing."

    Deputies found his father dead in the darkened room where he watched porn films.

    Junior asked a deputy if his father, who had worked as an electrician for the Tennessee Valley Authority, had a heart attack.

    Then Junior told the sheriff that his mother had hired someone to shoot his father and was unaware who had.

    The sheriff drove to the hospital, where Byrom was and told her that Junior had told them everything about her hiring somebody.

    "He didn't know which person you had got," the sheriff said.

    "Hold on a minute," Byrom replied. "I don't know. …"

    "Don't leave him hanging out here to bite the big bullet," the sheriff said.

    "No, he's not going to," she replied. "I wouldn't let him."

    "Well," the sheriff said, "he's fixing to."

    "Well, I will take all the responsibility. I'll do it."

    After she gave several statements, saying she was involved, deputies arrested her, her son and Gillis.

    Junior wrote his mother later, "You are all I have, and they're trying to take that away from me now, but Mom I'm gonna tell you right now who killed Dad 'cause I'm sick and tired of all the lies. I did, and it wasn't for money, it wasn't for all the abuse — it was because I can't kill myself."

    http://www.clarionledger.com/story/j...iday/29316079/

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