Thursday, May 23, 2013
In court documents, a federal judge argued that Prince William County prosecutors had "tainted" the capital murder case by intimidating a key witness: the triggerman.
Prince William County prosecutors culminated a pattern of "continued misconduct" by threatening Owen Merton Barber IV—the triggerman in the 2001 murder of Daniel Petrole Jr.—after Barber testified that a former death row inmate was not involved in the crime, a federal judge wrote in an opinion issued Wednesday. Judge Stephanie D. Thacker cast the dissenting vote Wednesday, as the U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to allow the Commonwealth of Virginia to retry Justin Wolfe, of Chantilly, on capital murder charges. Wolfe was previously convicted of ordering Petrole's murder, but his conviction was vacated after another federal court found that prosecutors suppressed evidence. The two appeals court judges wrote that they were "confident that …
Misconduct by prosecutors was not reason enough to prevent the retrial of a capital murder case, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
A federal appeals court in Virginia ruled Wednesday that misconduct by Prince William County prosecutors should not prevent the Commonwealth of Virginia from retrying Justin Michael Wolfe for the 2001 murder of his drug dealer, Daniel Robert Petrole Jr., of Centreville. Wolfe was first convicted of ordering the murder due in large part to testimony from the triggerman, Owen Merton Barber IV—who has since recanted his story. Saying that prosecutors had suppressed evidence, a lower federal court ordered Wolfe's release last year—but the appeals court ruled Wednesday that this was an "overbroad remedy" and the district court had "abused its discretion" in preventing Wolfe's retrial. "Though we reiterate that a federal habeas court possesses …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
An appeals court has denied a request to vacate an order for Wolfe's release, but has granted a stay that blocked him from leaving prison.
UPDATE (Thursday, 5:28 p.m.) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit today denied prosecutors' request to vacate an order for the release of former death row inmate Justin Wolfe—but granted a stay that blocked Wolfe from leaving prison at 5 p.m. Thursday. The court will hear arguments from the state later this month. ----- UPDATE (Thursday, 2:40 p.m.) The U.S. District Court and the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals have denied the Commonwealth's appeals regarding Justin Wolfe. Without intervention fromm the U.S. Supreme Court, Wolfe is expected to be released at 5 p.m. today (Thursday, Jan. 3). ---- Justin Michael Wolfe, a one-time death row inmate whose conviction related to the murder of Centreville's Daniel Robert Petrole Jr. …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Federal judge: ‘bungled prosecution’ has deprived defendant of his right to a fair trial.
A Christmas Eve ruling by a federal judge could make the re-trial of Justin Michael Wolfe in the March 2001 murder of Daniel Robert Petrole Jr. very difficult if not impossible. U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson, who previously vacated Wolfe’s 2002 conviction, has ordered Wolfe’s release and barred the state from using any testimony, past or present, from the man who admittedly killed Petrole. Jackson ruled that Wolfe must be released within 10 days, but the state is able to appeal the decision. Owen Merton Barber IV testified at Wolfe’s 2002 trial that he killed Petrole at Wolfe's request. Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert told Barber’s sentencing judge that if not for his testimony Wolfe would not …
Friday, December 14, 2012
A federal judge must first consider whether the state has complied with his previous orders before he decides whether to grant relief to Justin Wolfe.
Attorneys for Justin Michael Wolfe argued during a hearing in federal court Thursday that a Sept. 11, 2012, confrontation between the original Prince William prosecutors and a key witness has so tainted the case that Wolfe cannot get a fair trial related to the March 15, 2001, murder of Daniel Robert Petrole Jr. The same federal court previously vacated Wolfe’s conviction for ordering Petrole’s murder, based in part on admitted triggerman Owen Merton Barber IV’s testimony in November 2010 that Wolfe was not involved. The case was remanded back to Prince William prosecutors, who withdrew from the case a day after hauling Barber into the assistant warden’s office and explaining he could still face capital punishment during a meeting recorded…
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Admitted triggerman in the Justin Wolfe case refuses to testify on fifth amendment grounds, citing "perjury trap."
Subpoenas that would have required the Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney and others to testify at a hearing for a capital murder case were quashed in court Wednesday morning. Defense attorneys for Justin Michael Wolfe—a Chantilly High graduate who will be retried in January for allegedly ordering the 2001 murder of his drug supplier, Daniel Petrole, Jr., of Centreville—wanted to compel the county's chief prosecutor, Paul Ebert, to speak in court Wednesday about recent conversations with the admitted triggerman in the case. A Prince William County Circuit Court judge denied the motion to have Ebert and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Conway testify at the hearing. An attorney for Owen Merton Barber IV, the triggerman…
Friday, October 26, 2012
A Prince William County Circuit Court judge appointed Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond Morrogh in October to prosecute the Justin Wolfe murder-for-hire retrial.
Nearly five dozen former judges, prosecutors and other attorneys signed a letter this week criticizing the appointment of the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney as special prosecutor in a decade-old capital murder case, and his decision to retry the defendant. A Prince William County Circuit Court judge in September appointed Raymond Morrogh to prosecute the case during the retrial of Justin Wolfe, a Chantilly High School graduate, who was convicted over a decade ago for ordering the murder of his drug supplier, Daniel Petrole Jr., of Centreville. Wolfe's conviction was thrown out by a federal judge last year, and the vacation of his sentence was subsequently upheld by an appeals court. The courts also criticized Prince William County …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Prince William County prosecutors have been subpoenaed to explain why they met with the admitted triggerman in the case last month.
A hearing to discern why Prince William County prosecutors and others met with the admitted triggerman in a murder-for-hire case was delayed Tuesday as a former death row inmate prepares to be tried for a second time in the case. Owen Merton Barber IV pleaded guilty more than a decade ago to gunning down Daniel Robert Petrole Jr. in Bristow. Attorneys representing Justin Michael Wolfe—the man whose conviction for Petrole’s murder was overturned in federal court—want to know why Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert and others met with Barber on Sept. 11. The hearing was delayed until Oct. 31. During Tuesday's hearing, Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Mary Grace O’Brien also set a Jan. 2 start date for Wolfe’s new trial, with the …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The former death row inmate's retrial was originally scheduled to begin in October, but a judge has not set the new date yet.
The re-trial of Justin Michael Wolfe, whose previous conviction related to the murder of Daniel Robert Petrole Jr. was vacated by the federal courts, has been delayed. Additional charges have been filed against the former Chantilly High School student. While the trial—initially set for Oct. 15—has been delayed, the judge did not set a new date. The new charges include first-degree murder, capital murder, two counts of drug distribution, and two charges of using a firearm in commission of a felony, according to Prince William County court records. Wolfe was convicted in 2002 of ordering Petrole’s 2001 murder, but the triggerman later recanted his story and testified on Wolfe’s behalf in federal court. Federal judges criticized how Prince …
Friday, September 14, 2012
Justin Wolfe's family talks about their reaction to the news that he will stand trial again for capital murder.
Justin Wolfe's family and supporters had high hopes that he would come home on Friday. Instead, a Prince William County Circuit Court judge ordered that Wolfe—whose murder conviction was vacated last year—be held without bond until he is retried in October. Family members cried quietly and held on to each other after the decision. "Justin has spent 11 years in solitary confinement for a crime he didn't commit, and it's time for him to come home," said his mother, Terri Steinberg, outside the courthouse. Lindsay Steinberg, who was four years old when her brother Justin Wolfe was incarcerated, said she was disappointed. "It's hard to see that he won't be coming home today, but I just hope that he will be home in time for my sixteenth …
peachykeen2622
6:15 pm on Thursday, May 23, 2013
"Overbroad remedy" is a legal term. I base this on a search resulting in 440 hits, most if not all, are court cases. I would say the quote from Judge Jackson is the definition, i.e., "Put succinctly, the constitutional claims for which Wolfe was awarded habeas corpus relief are readily capable of being remedied in a new trial." Any lawyers out there? more ›