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Thread: Justin Michael Wolfe - Virginia

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    Justin Michael Wolfe - Virginia



    Justin Wolfe


    Summary of Offense:

    Born on March 7, 1982, convicted in Prince William County, Wolfe has been on death row since June 26, 2002. Wolfe, a then 21-year-old suburban drug dealer, hired Owen M. Barber IV to serve as a hit man upon rival dealer Daniel Petrole, whom Wolfe owed money. On March 15, 2001, Petrole was followed home and murdered in a hail of bullets outside his Bristow area townhouse.

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    Va. death-row case sent back to lower court

    A federal appeals court yesterday sent Virginia death-row inmate Justin M. Wolfe's case back to a lower federal court for reconsideration.

    Wolfe was convicted in Prince William County of the January 2002 murder-for-hire of his marijuana supplier, Daniel Robert Petrole Jr., 21, whom Wolfe owed more than $60,000. Wolfe paid Owen M. Barber IV, a high school friend, to commit the murder.

    Barber pleaded guilty, testified against Wolfe and was sentenced to 38 years. Years after Wolfe's conviction, Barber made a sworn statement that he lied during Wolfe's trial to save himself from a death sentence and said that Wolfe was not involved in the killing.

    Barber has since recanted his recantation, but Wolfe's lawyers have other evidence they contend points to Wolfe's innocence.

    Yesterday a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to district court to determine whether Wolfe has made a sufficient showing of innocence to require further consideration of claims that would otherwise be barred from consideration.

    Among the barred claims are that the prosecutor failed to disclose information that would have been helpful to Wolfe during his trial.

    Reached by e-mail, Wolfe's mother, Terri Steinberg, said of the 4th Circuit's decision: "This is good news."

    (Source: The Richmond Times-Dispatch)

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    Death row inmate seeks new day in court in 10-year-old case

    Death row inmate Justin Michael Wolfe of Chantilly will get another chance to present evidence to further his claims he didn't order the cold-blooded 2001 slaying of drug dealer Daniel Robert Petrole Jr.

    A federal court ruling last month opens the door for new hearings about evidence in the 10-year-old case that Wolfe's defense attorneys believe could clear him of his murder-for-hire conviction or force a new trial.

    Wolfe, 28, a 1999 graduate of Chantilly High School, was convicted of ordering the killing of Petrole.

    The slaying exposed a massive drug ring that supplied a large segment of the Northern Virginia region with high-grade marijuana. Petrole sat atop the regional ring, supplying Wolfe and others with multiple pounds of marijuana on a regular basis, according to testimony at the trial.

    A Prince William County jury convicted Wolfe primarily on the words of another former Chantilly student, Owen Merton Barber IV.

    Barber admitted killing Petrole but in December 2005, in a 13-page affidavit, he recanted his claim that Wolfe ordered the murder.

    Barber, who has told multiple versions of the events of the killing, has since reverted to his testimony during a trial that Wolfe ordered the slaying.

    Last month's order from U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia for a new evidentiary hearing clears the way for material not presented in court, including evidence the defense believes was withheld that could have benefitted Wolfe, such as recordings of interviews with witnesses, as well as Barber's affidavit.

    "It sounds good," said Wolfe, who responded briefly to questions early this month, regarding the importance placed on that affidavit. "That's what I've been waiting for. I thought I was out of here five years ago when Owen [Barber] confessed."

    Wolfe's defense team was not ready to disclose their strategy for the hearing, yet to be scheduled.

    "We certainly view the order as a positive development because it marks a first step toward getting a new trial for Justin," said Brian Meiners, among the attorneys at the King & Spalding law firm who are representing Wolfe pro bono along with Washington, D.C., attorney Michele Brace.

    The Feb. 4 court order stated Barber's 2005 affidavit carries more credibility than his other post-trial assertions that Wolfe was involved.

    Contrary to the prosecutions assertion that the 2005 affidavit was obtained through coercion, the order, signed by District Judge Raymond A. Jackson, reads:

    "Unlike most recantations, Barber does not escape liability or improve his own situation by his recantation; rather, it is decidedly against his interest as he would face additional punishment. The 2006 and 2009 rescission statements, on the other hand, only further Barber's interest by removing the possibility of that additional punishment. "

    "What the court finally recognized is that Owen Barber had no incentive to give that affidavit," said Jon Sheldon, a defense attorney who formerly represented Wolfe. "I'm very hopeful for Justin."

    Barber gunned down Petrole after stalking him for more than an hour. As Petrole, a community college student who had graduated from Centreville High School, parked his car in front of his newly purchased townhouse in the Braemar community, Barber walked up to the passenger side of Petrole's car and unloaded his weapon.

    Police found nearly 50 pounds of marijuana, more than $130,000 in cash, a large quantity of Ecstasy pills, several weapons and soft body armor, among much other musical and DJ equipment in Petrole's house. They also found a list of people who owed Petrole money, including Wolfe.

    Wolfe has maintained his innocence from the beginning. He briefly fled the area after Petrole's murder, claiming he was scared of receiving drug charges as police investigated the murder. Wolfe soon turned himself in to police, hoping to persuade prosecutors he had nothing to do with the murder.

    In that 2005 affidavit, Barber states: "Justin [Wolfe] had nothing to do with the killing of Daniel Petrole. There was no agreement between Justin and me to kill Danny Petrole. I did not have any discussion, at any time, with Justin about killing Danny Petrole. I lied and implicated Justin because I felt I had no choice."

    Barber also details in the affidavit pressure put on him by prosecutors and his own defense attorney to testify against Wolfe or face a possible death sentence. Barber, who was sentenced to 60 years with 22 suspended at Sussex II in Waverly, did not respond to inquiries about the case.

    If a district court rules in favor of Wolfe on any of the legal issues, his death sentence or the murder-for-hire conviction could be tossed out and a new trial ordered.

    The Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney's office, which won Wolfe's initial conviction, did not respond to inquiries about the case.

    Key dates in Justin Wolfe case

    March 15, 2001 -- Owen Barber murders Danny Petrole after stalking him for more than an hour following a drug deal between Justin Wolfe and Petrole.

    March 17, 2001 -- Wolfe leaves town, he says to avoid questions about drugs; police say to escape the murder investigation.

    March 18, 2001 -- J.R. Martin calls Crimesolvers to say his car was used by Barber the night of the murder.

    March 19, 2001 -- Barber leaves town after meeting with Jason Coleman, who supplied Barber with the weapon, and signing a car over to him.

    March 30, 2001 -- Wolfe meets with investigators.

    April 5, 2001 -- Marshals arrest Barber in San Diego.

    April 18, 2001 -- Police arrest Barber's former girlfriend on accessory-after-the-fact charges.

    Late April 2001 -- Barber tells police Wolfe ordered the murder.

    April 30, 2001 -- Wolfe turns himself in to Prince William County police.

    June 2001 -- Barber implicates Wolfe during a preliminary hearing.

    January 2002 -- A Prince William County jury convicts Wolfe of murder-for-hire and sentences him to death.

    February 2002 -- Barber pleads guilty to murdering Petrole.

    June 26, 2002 -- The judge in Wolfe's case affirms the jury's death sentence.

    August 2002 -- Barber is sentenced to 60 years with 22 suspended.

    November 2005 -- Wolfe submits habeas corpus appeal to the federal court system by the required deadline.

    December 2005 -- Barber signs each page and correction of a 13-page affidavit explaining Wolfe took no part and did not order the murder.

    April 2006 -- Barber sends a short letter to the defense team reverting back to his story Wolfe ordered the murder.

    May 2009 -- The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals orders the U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia to reconsider evidence it previously rejected in Wolfe's case.

    February 2010 -- The U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia rules Wolfe deserves an evidentiary hearing in an order that appears to suggest a jury would be unlikely to reconvict Wolfe in light of Barber's lack of credibility.

    Compiled by Dusty Smith from police and court records

    http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=1195

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    Hearing set for Va death row inmate

    A Virginia death row inmate who claims he was wrongly convicted in the murder-for-hire of his marijuana supplier will try to convince a Norfolk federal judge this week that he is innocent.

    An evidentiary hearing for 29-year-old Justin Michael Wolfe is scheduled to begin Tuesday to consider the shooter's later claim that he acted alone in killing 21-year-old Daniel Petrole Jr. in 2001. The judge also will consider sworn statements from others who say Owen Barber IV told them he alone killed Petrole.

    Barber was the key witness in Wolfe's 2002 trial. Barber agreed to plead guilty to 1st-degree murder and testify against Wolfe in exchange for a life sentence.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

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    Justin Wolfe death penalty case back in court----Justin Wolfe has been on death row since 2002, convicted in a murder-for-hire case involving a high-end northern Virginia drug ring.

    A man on death row for a 2001 murder in Bristow will have his case heard in federal court this week.

    An evidentiary hearing for Justin Michael Wolfe, 29, is set to begin in U.S. District Court in Norfolk today.

    Wolfe, of Chantilly, was convicted of hiring another man, Owen Barber IV, to kill his marijuana supplier, 21-year-old Daniel Petrole Jr.

    The case uncovered a high-end marijuana distribution ring in the wealthy suburbs of northern Virginia.

    Wolfe, sentenced to death in 2002, has always maintained his innocence.

    According to police, on March 5, 2001, Petrole Jr. pulled up to his town house in Bristow, after returning from a meeting where he had given Wolfe between 10 and 15 pounds of a high-grade marijuana called chronic.

    When Petrole parked in front of his home, Barber, a friend of Wolfe’s, pulled up nearby, pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired 10 rounds into Petrole's Honda Civic.

    Barber, who was the key witness in Wolfe’s trial, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

    In 2005, Barber wrote an affidavit recanting his testimony and said that Wolfe did not hire him to do the shooting.

    Weeks later, Barber changed his story again and recanted his affidavit.

    Barber has been subpoenaed to testify in this week’s evidentiary hearing, expected to last 3 days.

    Wolfe’s attorneys also claim that Prince William County prosecutors withheld evidence that Barber’s story had changed before and that interviews with him and others had been taped.

    They also claim prosecutors prepared Barber and a friend for testifying together, allowing them to coordinate their stories.

    Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said those allegations are "not well taken."

    "These folks that represent these people, they come up with just about anything they can to throw in the fire to see how it flies," Ebert said.

    Wolfe's attorneys declined to comment on the case, saying only that the judge has several options. Even if Wolfe's murder-for-hire conviction is overturned, he likely would serve the rest of his more than 30-year sentence for drug and gun convictions.

    Terri Steinberg, Wolfe's mother, said the family was "cautiously optimistic" going into the hearing, and grateful for the opportunity.

    "It is the hands of the system, so it’s a little scary," she said.

    Wolfe is currently the only person convicted in Prince William County who is on Virginia's death row.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

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    Triggerman: Death Row Inmate is Innocent

    Owen M. Barber IV, the admitted triggerman in the 2001 murder of Daniel Robert Petrole Jr. of Centreville testified in federal court last week that the man who has been convicted of ordering Petrole's killing and sentenced to death had nothing to do with the crime. The case zigzagged across Fairfax and Prince William counties, involving officials from both jurisdictions.

    Justin Michael Wolfe was convicted of ordering Barber to kill Petrole in a 2002 trial in which Barber's testimony was the only direct evidence that Wolfe was involved in the murder.

    Barber's testimony came during an evidentiary hearing that was being held as part of Wolfe's ongoing appeals process. The hearing, which has been continued to Nov. 16 and 17 in Norfolk, could result in Wolfe getting a new trial or in his conviction being upheld.

    During Wolfe's 2002 trial, Barber described a roughly one-hour pursuit of Petrole from an apartment complex in Centreville to a house in Fairfax City and then out to Gainesville and south to Bristow. Once there, Barber said he quickly approached Petrole's car and panicked when he thought he saw Petrole reaching toward the glove compartment, presumably for a gun. At that point, Barber said, he emptied the clip of his 9mm Smith & Wesson into Petrole's car. Nine bullets hit Petrole, killing him.

    Barber rushed home, changed clothes and, accompanied by Robert Martin Jr., met Wolfe and several other people at a bar in Fairfax City for a toast. Wolfe's birthday was the following weekend.

    Despite testifying in 2002 that Wolfe ordered the murder to escape a drug debt, Barber on Nov. 2 reaffirmed a December 2005 affidavit, which included the following statements:

    "Justin had nothing to do with the killing of Daniel Petrole … There was no agreement between Justin and me to kill Danny Petrole."

    In April 2006 and several more times until the Nov. 2 hearing, Barber signed affidavits affirming his 2002 trial testimony that Wolfe ordered the murder.

    Wolfe—a Chantilly High School graduate who was living back and forth between his mother's home in Chantilly and his girlfriend's apartment in Centreville around the time of the murder—has always claimed innocence in the murder. He admits guilt in a marijuana conspiracy in which he purchased multiple pounds of marijuana from Petrole on a regular basis. Wolfe and Barber were friends and also exchanged marijuana, often buying different types from each other.

    Prosecutors centered their case on Barber's testimony in Wolfe's 2002 trial. Phone records and testimony from Barber's girlfriend and Martin were used to corroborate Barber's story.

    In Barber's testimony in court Nov. 2, he said he lied at Wolfe's preliminary hearing, at Wolfe's trial, in several affidavits and as recently as a few weeks ago to attorneys for the state because he felt prosecutors had left him with no other choice.

    "They said they know Justin was involved and 'We know he hired you,'" Barber said last week, adding that he was told he could avoid the death penalty by talking first.

    A report by Prince William police detective Sam Newsome seemingly corroborates Barber's story that Newsome first told him that prosecutors believed Wolfe ordered the murder. Then, in the days and weeks after his arrest, Barber said, prosecutors or detectives visited him in jail and pressured him to say Wolfe ordered the murder.

    "They said they wanted the truth, but at the same time, they said this is what we want you to say to avoid the chair," Barber said. "It was basically, 'you're going to testify against Justin or you're going to get the death penalty.'"

    Barber said his attorney, William Pickett, resisted any other version of events. In terms of telling what he now calls the truth, he said, "I tried to, but they didn't want to hear it. They kept pushing the same deal over and over." He said his attorney told him he needed to take the deal or face the death penalty.

    Barber's 2005 affidavit, in which he absolves Wolfe of the murder, came after Wolfe completed his state appeal process and after the deadline for filing his federal habeas corpus petition. When the case previously landed in the Eastern District Court of Virginia, the court denied Wolfe's claims, resulting in an appeal at the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. There, a judge ordered the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing.

    Tuesday's proceeding marked the first half of that evidentiary hearing. Regardless of the decision in the hearing—the judge could uphold Wolfe's conviction, order a new trial or acknowledge a legal violation that was not substantial enough to reverse the conviction—it likely will be appealed again to the 4th Circuit by the losing side.

    The corporate law firm King & Spalding has taken Wolfe's case pro bono. The firm's legal team of about a dozen people dwarfed the two attorneys representing the state. Daniel J. King, Alan R. Dial and Brian Meiners presented evidence and questioned witnesses. The Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center worked with King & Spalding on the case. And the Innocence Project has been monitoring the proceedings.

    The Prince William County prosecutors who tried Wolfe—Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Conway—were called to testify. Senior assistant attorneys general Matthew P. Dullaghan and Katherine Baldwin Burnett represented the state at the hearing.

    The hearing gave Wolfe his first opportunity since his 2002 trial to introduce new evidence in court, including Barber's testimony. While Wolfe's defense declined to comment about the hearing, Daniel King shared with the court the team's pleasure with Barber's words. "The testimony of Mr. Barber is exactly what we'd hoped for," King told Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

    Barber testified Nov. 2 he was tired of the issue dragging on and on, leading him to tell prosecutors that he stuck to the trial story simply to get the chance to tell his story in open court. He said he signed affidavits recanting his December 2005 affidavit because he felt pressure from law enforcement. Prosecutors questioned that claim, showing him records that indicate he appears to have written at least one of those statements two days before a visit from the state police.

    Wolfe's defense team also argued that they did not receive all the evidence compiled by police before Wolfe's 2002 trial. In interviews with Paul Gunning, Petrole's roommate at the time of the murder, police records presented Nov. 2 show Gunning told investigators that Petrole had numerous drug suppliers and expressed concerns about one connection. When asked if he thought that connection killed Petrole, according to the police report, Gunning responded, "It was."

    Wolfe's defense argued that such information should have been supplied prior to the trial, particularly information Gunning gave police about an attempt by one of Petrole's suppliers to cut another conspirator out of the drug profits. "There are things not included in the Gunning proffer that we think are exculpatory," said Alan R. Dial, one of Wolfe's attorneys.

    Ebert said he was aware that Petrole had multiple dealers but said it was not information deemed credible enough to be exculpatory—meaning that it could not have helped the defense prove Wolfe's innocence.

    "There was never a rift between Mr. Petrole and anyone else to my knowledge," Ebert said at first. Then, when pressed further about the disagreement, he said, "I do remember there was some talk about that. I don't see anything exculpatory about it. Danny did not want to be part of any cutting out. That's why I did not think it was exculpatory."

    Conway agreed with Ebert that the information was either not credible or not exculpatory. "I don't believe a person's belief is exculpatory. I did not see anything that would have supported that belief," he said. "I normally don't find any rumors to be exculpatory. We often find red herrings."

    Conway said he did not personally review all police notes about the drug investigation, relying on detectives to provide such information, because he was focused on the homicide.

    Robert F. Horan III, the attorney for Robert Martin Jr. and former Prince William prosecutor under Ebert, testified that he voluntarily gave investigators information that was protected by attorney-client privilege. Martin allowed Barber to use his car the night of the murder, testified against Wolfe at trial and called Crime Solvers several days after the murder.

    Conway said prosecutors offered Martin no deal to escape charges for his testimony, but investigators with the Prince William County Police Department appear to have intimated such an offer would be extended if he cooperated, based on a recorded conversation played in court during the Nov. 2 hearing. Police investigators made the recording.

    Conway said certain witnesses, including Martin and Barber, met together with prosecutors prior to trial to see if there were conflicts in their testimony. He said that on at least one issue critical to whether Martin could be charged with accessory to the crime they relied more on Martin's memory of the night than Barber's. However, Conway also said he made Wolfe's trial attorney aware of the meeting with Barber and Martin.

    Conway denied coaching the witnesses or any intent to change testimony. "We certainly went over testimony with witnesses," he said. "As far as changing their story, I'm not aware of that."

    He said the meeting occurred because Barber had just arrived at jail from San Diego while Martin was being questioned nearby. Martin's attorney was present. Barber's was not.

    "Mr. Ebert said bring him on in," Conway explained, adding that the two witnesses disagreed about whether Barber told Martin he was going to shoot someone on the night of the murder. He described his feelings as he questioned the two that night: "I think [Martin's] a credible witness and Barber's doing his best. We believe [Martin]'s recollection is the more accurate one."

    Wolfe's defense team then played a recording of an interview with Barber, in which Newsome, the detective on the case, asks whether money was discussed following the murder. After Barber initially can't recall specifics, the detective sounds pleased to hear Barber say Martin's recollection was correct, telling Barber, "That's what I'm looking for."

    Conway said Nov. 2 that investigators found Martin more credible on certain points.

    "We believed Mr. Martin was being truthful. He was very helpful in solving this homicide," Conway said, adding that they lacked evidence to charge him as an accessory or with selling marijuana. "It was not what we deemed sufficient to charge."

    Police investigators appear to promise Martin plea agreements they had no authority to approve.

    "There's such a thing as a plea agreement," one investigator can be heard saying during a recorded interview with Martin, adding that Barber was facing accessory to murder. "That means you do the crime for the time. That's what we're trying to avoid."

    Conway explained that such a deal with police wouldn't be legally binding. "I do not know what the investigator was thinking when he said that," Conway said, adding that several scenarios were discussed on the recording. "This has nothing to do with a plea agreement with the commonwealth."

    Judge Jackson agreed, but also kept the tapes as potential evidence of some pattern of police conduct.

    Prosecutors said they made sure Barber was aware that he faces years more time in jail for perjury because he now has conflicting stories on the court record. Barber said he understood, but that he wanted to finally do the right thing.

    As Dullaghan, one of the state's attorneys, peppered him with questions about whether he lied to prosecutors, Barber uttered a steady series of answers of "Yes," Yeah" and "Yep" until Jackson stepped in.

    "What he said was he changed his story today to tell the truth," Jackson said. Jackson grew impatient with both sides in the case at times.

    Martin, Newsome and several others are expected to testify when the hearing continues Nov. 16 and 17 and the state presents its rebuttal.

    The defense called Jason Coleman, but he did not appear at the courthouse Tuesday. Jackson agreed to issue a bench warrant to have U.S. Marshals escort Coleman to court Wednesday, but he was located.

    Coleman, who did not testify at Wolfe's 2002 trial, has told varying stories over the years. Barber lived with Coleman at the time of the murder, and Barber obtained the mobile phone he regularly used and the weapon he used from Coleman in the months before the murder. Barber also signed a car over to Coleman as he fled town. Coleman bartended at the bar where Barber said Wolfe concocted the scheme and helped Barber get into a crowded club the night of the murder.

    http://woodbridge-va.patch.com/artic...-is-innocent-2

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    UVa law students helping man on death row

    A group of University of Virginia students provided legal legwork in the case of a Northern Virginia man facing the death penalty.

    The 12 students in the Innocence Project Clinic at UVa’s law school searched for improperly withheld evidence in the case of Justin Wolfe, who was convicted in 2002 of murder-for-hire. They are now waiting for the ruling of a Norfolk federal judge after a Nov. 2 hearing during which the shooter in the incident recanted his prior testimony that Wolfe hired him to commit murder.

    Students listened to hours of police interview audiotapes, read police reports, tracked down police reports and worked with the defendant’s lawyers to create a legal strategy for the evidentiary hearing. Matthew Engle, the clinic’s legal director, said the work that the students did for the defense team at the King & Spalding law firm in Washington, D.C., is experience they would need as lawyers.

    “They need to interview witnesses and be comfortable with that,” Engle said. “Apart from the clinic setting, you don’t get a chance to do that in law school.”

    The clinic, which takes second-year and third-year law students, focuses on cases in which defendants are trying to prove their innocence. Alan Dial, one of the D.C. firm’s partners, said the clinic had been working on other cases with the firm when the judge permitted Wolfe’s defense team to review the prosecutor’s files for evidence that hadn’t been released.

    “They were an incredible resource for us to have and they were instrumental in our effort to present a strong case for Justin,” Dial said. “The stakes were very high. On several occasions, they were working around the clock.”

    Wolfe was accused of hiring Owen Merton Barber IV to kill 21-year-old Danny Petrole for drugs, cash and to repay a debt. Petrole, who was shot and killed in 2001 after he pulled up to his townhome, was reportedly Wolfe’s main drug connection.

    Michelle Harrison, a second-year law student, said she was assigned to review documents related to Petrole’s roommate. Harrison, who read through documents multiple times to see how the drug trade evolved over time and find inconsistent statements, said the clinic has provided her with her first opportunity to see what happens in a courtroom.

    “It’s definitely the most meaningful thing I’ve done so far,” she said.

    Other students had to interact with witnesses directly. Deirdre M. Enright, the clinic’s director of investigations, said that process wasn’t always easy.

    “There were extremely willing witnesses and extremely unwilling witnesses,” Enright said.

    All 12 clinic students attended Wolfe’s hearing in November. Bernadette Donovan, a third-year law student who worked on a brief that the clinic prepared before the start of classes, said her experience in the clinic has convinced her to change her career path from commercial litigation to post-conviction appellate work.

    Wolfe’s case is now in the hands of the judge, who Engle said indicated that he thought he would have a quick ruling. In the meantime, Donovan said, there is more work to be done.

    “Unfortunately, we never run out of wrongfully convicted people,” she said.

    http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2...row-ar-793589/

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    Federal judge in Virginia tosses death sentence

    A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a Virginia drug dealer's murder-for-hire conviction and death sentence in the 2001 slaying of his marijuana supplier in a case that exposed a distribution ring in the wealthy northern suburbs.

    U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson of Norfolk ruled that Justin Michael Wolfe, 29, was wrongfully convicted in the death of 21-year-old Daniel Petrole Jr. in Prince William County. Wolfe claimed that the shooter, Owen Barber IV, acted alone.

    Barber was the key prosecution witness in Wolfe's 2002 trial, which exposed a high-end marijuana distribution ring in the wealthy suburbs of northern Virginia. Barber agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder and testify against Wolfe in exchange for a life sentence.

    Barber recanted his testimony in 2005. Five months later, he again changed his story and said he had testified truthfully at Wolfe's trial. Barber's former roommate and his former cellmate also filed sworn statements saying Barber told them he acted alone in killing Petrole.

    Jackson said in his ruling that the state's use of Barber's false testimony was grounds for vacating Wolfe's conviction and sentence. He also said Wolfe's due process rights were violated when prosecutors withheld information from his attorneys. Wolfe also was denied the right to an impartial jury, the judge ruled.

    Neither Wolfe's attorneys nor the Virginia attorney general's office immediately responded to requests for comment.

    According to trial testimony, Wolfe was making $10,000 to $15,000 a month selling high-end marijuana he bought from Petrole. Wolfe had been friends since high school with Barber, who sold lower-grade marijuana.

    At the time of Petrole's death, Wolfe owed Petrole about $60,000.

    On March 15, 2001, after Petrole delivered the pot to Wolfe, Barber followed Petrole to his home and shot him 10 times as he sat in his car. Barber testified that in exchange for the slaying, Wolfe forgave a $3,000 debt, gave him more than five pounds of marijuana and promised an additional $10,000.

    In his affidavit recanting the testimony, Barber said he had intended to confront Petrole but thought he saw him reach for a gun, so he fired. He said he implicated Wolfe to avoid the death penalty.

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...a145250D61.DTL

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    I've long thought that this was rather unusual for a death-penalty case. Wolfe had had no significant priors, the murder itself (when considered in comparison to most capital cases) was not exceptionally heinous or cruel and, essentially, it was a killing over drugs. Typically, prosecutors don't even bother seeking the death penalty in cases like this. I wonder why the Commonwealth's Attorney did so in this case and how he managed to get the jury to unanimously agree on a death sentence.

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