Public Defenseless 27: Why is the Actual Innocence of a Person not Enough to Stop his Execution? with Sylvia Lett and Andrew Sowards
In 1994, Barry Jones was arrested for the rape and murder of his girlfriend's four-year-old daughter. Even though his innocence is obvious to all who would look, he sits on Arizona's death row, waiting to be executed for a crime he did not commit.
Sylvia Lett and Andrew Sowards are the former federal public defender and Investigator who worked on the case and join us for this special two-hour episode to give all the details.
They walk us through this horribly unjust trial and explain how the criminal justice system set Barry up for failure from the start.
From junk science to bad witnesses, nothing about this trial was fair. To make it worse, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that actual proof of innocence is not enough to overturn an execution.
Syliva and Andrew's account of this story will change the entire way you view the criminal justice system.
Key Topics and Takeaways:
- Sylvia and Andrew's background and how they got Barry's case. [10:13]
- The police perspective. [21:37]
- The lack of story in this case. [29:08]
- The evidence provided. [30:29]
- Junk science within the trial. [40:50]
- Barry's timeline on the day of the crime. [57:29]
- How to bring an innocence claim into federal court. [1:14:31]
- Dr. Howard's testimony. [1:24:43]
- What finality is and why it's there. [1:42:45]
- The conviction integrity unit. [1:49:27]
Guests:
Sylvia Lett, Professor of Law at the University of Arizona and Former Federal Public Defender
Andrew Sowards, Former Federal Public Defender Investigator
Resources:
The Intercept Story of Barry Jones
Arizona Capital Representation Project
After Speaking with Barry, Sylvia informed me that he welcomed letters from those with "authentic interest in the injustices in his case". He would welcome correspondence to speak about his case. While he says he has no time for sympathy, I can only imagine showing him that there are people who care, who see the injustice done to him, and who are fighting to lift up his story will help him maintain his fighting spirit. Please do not write to him simply for the novelty of writing to someone on death row and please mark all mail with "NON-LEGAL MAIL" His address is: Barry Lee Jones, ADOC #114690 ASPC Florence Browning Unit P.O. Box 8200 Florence, AZ 85132
Memorable Quotes:
"A just system is not just one that protects the innocent. It also protects everybody involved in it because that is a merciful system." (8:10, Hunter)
"Barry's case is kind of the poster case of failures all around, in many ways." (31:54, Sylvia)
"So often we think justice is solving the crime, but justice also involves making sure that we are doing right by the accused." (47:47, Hunter)
"If you don't know the person, if you don't live with them, don't be judging their emotion, their emotional response, because every single person is different." (51:36, Andrew)
"If you are concerned or worried about state power and the threat of the state, I promise you that it is the work of federal public defenders, federal investigators, and public defenders around the country who will do more to protect you from the power of the state than a gun ever will." (1:48:49, Hunter)
Contact Hunter Parnell:
hwparnell@publicdefenseless.com