DNA Testing May Offer Inmate a Second Chance

By Tanya B. O'Berry, Valdosta Daily Times, January 8, 2004

VALDOSTA -- The first case being pursued by the Georgia Innocence Project might offer a second chance for a former resident of Valdosta who has spent nearly 17 years behind bars.

Monday, the Georgia Innocence Project won the right to have DNA evidence tested from the 1987 rape case that sent Joseph Brown to prison. Aimee Maxwell, executive director of GIP, and local attorneys Sam Dennis and John Gee Edwards appeared on behalf of Brown. Testifying as the DNA expert was Dr. Greg Hampikian, a nationally known forensic science expert from Clayton College and State University.

Maxwell said that Brown's case is the third one GIP accepted. To date, she said GIP has received 822 letters asking for help, but has only accepted six cases for review.

"We take about six months to carefully screen cases, try to find every document we can locate and read them," she said. "This is one of the first we accepted. We got all of the records from different agencies and then called the clerk's office and asked where the evidence might be."

Maxwell and Dennis say Sara Crowe's office is one reason why Brown will get his second chance at life as a free man. His evidence file was still available after 16 years, which is unusual.

"We were able to get two slides of evidence gathered as a result of a rape kit analysis that produced seminal fluid from the victim," Dennis said. "If it turns out to exonerate Joe, then she is a hero. I've practiced all over the state, and Sara Crowe has absolutely the best office in this state."

Crowe's storage practice will become a norm for the state with the new Georgia DNA Evidence preservation law, which requires all evidence that may contain DNA to be kept for 10 years. Payment for the testing, which costs between $4,000 and $7,000, comes from fines paid within the county in which the case is tried.

At daybreak Tuesday, Dennis and Lowndes County Sheriff's Office Investigator Wanda Temples boarded a plane bound for Bode Laboratory in Springfield, Va., with a sample of Brown's DNA and the slides from the rape kit. Maxwell said they may not get results for up to 10 weeks depending on their work load. Results that cost between $4,000 and $7,000 are one reason GIP is important to people like Brown.

Dennis said the case will move forward after they get the results.

"We're all waiting on results showing that it's not Joe," Dennis said. "Then we hope a couple of things will happen quickly. We will get a motion for a new trial and on the other side if it's not Joe, then they can look for who it was."

For now, Maxwell, Dennis, Edwards and Brown wait.

Maxwell said she hopes the GIP does as well for volunteers as it has on Brown's case. Both Dennis and Edwards volunteered at the beginning.

"If this first case in Valdosta sets precedence for the way to do cases in the future, then I feel good," she said.

Dennis is one of the founding members of GIP. In addition to a monetary donation, he has given time to this case. Maxwell said he gave money to get the organization started.

"I've known Sam for a number of years, and he has the most outstanding reputation of any lawyer anywhere," she said. "He doesn't let go of a case -- sees it through to the end. He's a tough litigator."

Dennis said this case is really an important one for not only GIP, but everyone involved.

"This is a big deal for Joe, locally and for the state," he said. "We're all about the same thing as attorneys and prosecutors. We're looking for truth."

GIP is a 501(c)3) non-profit organization that receives funding from the Georgia Bar Foundation, the Lawyers Foundation, AT&T Foundation, Hewitt Foundation, ChoicePoint Cares, the Charles Edmundson Foundation and private donations.

To contact Tanya B. O'Berry, call 244-3400, ext. 239 or write tanya.o'berry@gaflnews.com.