Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509270125
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE JACKSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the stay that U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser in Roanoke had issued Monday to hear new evidence. In the past two weeks, Stockton's attorneys' have produced affidavits by three witnesses alleging that the state's key witness, Randy Bowman, was the real killer of 18-year-old Kenneth Arnder in July 1978.
The only things now between Stockton and a lethal injection are a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and a clemency plea to Gov. George Allen.
Tuesday, Stockton's lawyers met with four Allen staff members about clemency. ``I told them there were people who will investigate this, even after Dennis is executed,'' said Steve Rosenfield, one of the lawyers. ``We would like to get answers to important questions that remain unanswered. All we want is for the governor to grant a temporary reprieve to give us time to complete the investigation.
``Dennis is likely to be executed on the strength of Randy Bowman, somebody who has a reputation for not being trustworthy and honest. I think there is compelling evidence to suggest someone else killed Kenny Arnder. I know in my heart Dennis has been deprived of a fair process.''
On Monday, a fourth witness corroborated the affidavit of Bowman's ex-wife, Patricia Anne McHone, who said Bowman returned home one evening ``and told me he had just killed Kenny Arnder.'' McHone's sister said McHone told her of the alleged confession in the late 1970s and that McHone said she feared for her safety.
The federal judges said Tuesday that the new evidence was too little, too late.
They wrote: ``Last minute stays ... represent an interference with the orderly processes of justice which should been avoided in all but the most extraordinary cases. Petitioner's claim fails to meet these standards.''
The court said Stockton's claim ``reflects a formula for eleventh-hour relief that is increasing common in capital cases.'' The court said Stockton has advanced a number of claims.
Sworn statements by McHone and Kathy Carreon, Bowman's former friend, said he told them on separate occasions that he killed Arnder. An affidavit by Timothy Crabtree, Bowman's son, said Bowman admitted killing a boy and disposing of the body with the help of friends.
The appeals court said: ``The credibility of these affiants has never been observed; the contentions of the affiants have never been tested by cross-examination. Moreover, the affidavits do not represent eyewitness accounts of the offense, and they are produced a dozen years after the trial in a context that is suggestive of an intent to delay.''
Bowman's credibility has increasingly come under fire. He testified at Stockton's March 1983 trial that he attended a meeting in June 1978 where he heard Stockton accept $1,500 from Tommy McBride to kill Arnder over a soured drug deal. McBride was never tried. It was Bowman alone who linked Stockton to the contract killing.
Then, this April, Bowman told a newspaper reporter that he never heard the deal. He recanted that, however, in an affidavit in May after being visited by two investigators.
Tuesday, Bowman's credibility was still being assailed. Stockton's lawyers entered last-minute evidence challenging an affidavit filed Monday by Sheriff Connie Watson of Surry County, N.C. In its opinion, the appeals court took strong notice of Watson's sworn statement that Bowman was in jail when Arnder was killed.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
by CNB