J. W. Griffin, a federal informant against several suspects was found dead in his home on July 11, 1993. The evening before, the Geneva County police had questioned a man not far from Mr. Griffin's home who had given them the name "Al Faulk" but was actually James Linder. The man produced no identification and did not tell a coherent story. The police let him go, telling him to move on but not following him out of town.
The police later found in investigating
the case that Mr. Linder was using an alias, had been in Geneva County
before, and had asked a garage owner to tow the truck he had been seen
in on July 10th which was now burned. The truck belonged to James Fletcher.
When interviewed, Mr. Fletcher initially denied any knowledge of the situation
but then admitted that he had supplied the truck as well as a gun and money
to Mr. Linder and William David Scott, who worked under him in an illegal
drug business. Mr. Linder, who knew he was wanted for
murder, stated that he and Mr. Scott
had made several trips to Geneva County and that on the last, Mr. Scott
killed J.W. Griffin. Mr. Fletcher stated that he had procured Mr. Scott
to commit this murder for a man named Jesse Richburg, or
"Shot". A Geneva County investigator,
Jimmy Hand, testified that "Shot" was one of the men Mr. Griffin had been
informing against.
Dave Scott did not testify during the
guilt phase but did take the stand before the jury at sentencing. He testified
that he thought he had been set up. He explained that he believed he was
going to collect a drug debt for Mr. Fletcher as he had done before. Mr.
Griffin was not at home the first few times he
tried. He found him home on the night
of July 10th and was told by Mr. Griffin (or who he assumed to be Mr. Griffin,
having never met him), that the debt had been taken care of. Mr.
Scott was to meet Mr. Linder after collecting the debt but
found that Linder had abandoned him
after being surrounded by police officers. He walked for a while and then
purloined a car from someone named Rita Boyette. He took the car as far
as Panama City and then wired for money for a bus ride home to Ocklawaha,
Florida. (Note: this account is supported
entirely by the evidence.)
Sometime after his return, Scott told his friend Kay Klapper that he was afraid he was going to get in trouble because someone had been murdered. Linder also talked to Klapper, and told her that "We've done the job and it was a dirty one." Ms. Klapper corrected the district attorney when he suggested that Mr. Scott had intimated to her that he had been involved in the killing.
Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Linder got very
sweet deals for their testimony. Fletcher, who acknowledged being the principle
player in this crime, was not prosecuted by either state or federal authorities.
He admitted that he lied when the police
first approached him and again in the
grand jury (in fact Mr. Fletcher admitted to lying every time he was questioned
prior to testifying at Mr. Scott s trial). He acknowledged a prior conviction
for aggravated assault (this involved Mr. Fletcher also murdering a woman
and wounding several others). By contrast, Mr. Scott had never been charged
with a crime of violence and had only a prior stolen property conviction.
James Linder, whom the authorities had
questioned in the county on the night of the crime, pled guilty in federal
court, and received a downward departure on his sentence for incriminating
Dave Scott. He was sentenced to serve 17 years
in federal prison (Linder was later
given a further deduction in sentence for testifying against Mr. Richburg
and now has only 9 years). Both Linder and Fletcher could have been tried
and convicted of capital murder based on their own testimony alone (both
could also have received death sentences but for
their cooperation).
The jurors convicted Dave Scott of capital
murder and theft based on the testimony of the two accomplices and considerable
inadmissible evidence. At the penalty phase, they voted unanimously to
sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole (this
verdict was decided with only 10 minutes deliberation). The state's case
for death depended on inadmissible hearsay about why Jesse Richburg would
want Mr. Griffin dead, a presentence report in which Mr. Scott was fatuously
described as a "hit man", and improper argument. The trial
court rejected the jury verdict and sentenced Dave
Scott to death by electrocution.
The preceding recitation is taken from
actual court records omitting only the page reference where the information
cited is found in the record, and adding parenthesized text for clarification.
It is our contention that many of these facts cited are distorted by false
testimony and manipulation of the truth; in many cases by the prosecution
in an effort to fabricate a case against Dave. Dave rebuffed offers to
testify falsely against Mr. Richburg and the indication now is that the
conviction against Dave was facilitated to make a conviction against Mr.
Richburg possible, given the lack of credible evidence in this case. Dave
was tried in the county where the victim had been a lifelong resident and
had many family ties, and Mr. Richburg was tried in federal court. As promised
we do have credible evidence to support our allegations. During Mr. Richburg's
two trials ( the first one ending with the jury unable to agree on his
guilt), many facts came out which Dave Scott's defense never investigated.
There has never been a
legitimate investigation in this case.
This is a case that cries out for justice. It is a case that should never
have been tried, but was, apparently because Dave was the most convenient
scapegoat, and those who truly should have been the target of the investigation
are powerful and prominent in that area.
Alabama's system for providing representation
in these cases is appalling. Prosecutors have bottomless coffers and unlimited
resources at their disposal. Also it appears that having the authority
to threaten folks with unwarranted prison time unless they testify favorably
(indeed the deals Linder and Fletcher
received were dependent on Dave being
convicted) is a valuable asset in prosecuting weak cases. In contrast the
defense recieves merely a few hundred dollars to mount an entire defense
against this. We have the evidence, we need to even the playing field.
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