DNA Test Upholds Rape Conviction

By Heath Griner (heath.griner@gaflnews.com), Valdosta Daily Times

VALDOSTA -- DNA testing in a 1987 rape case confirmed what the Lowndes County District Attorney said he's always known.

The state got the right man when it convicted Joe Brown.

Brown has maintained for 17 years he wasn't guilty of a rape committed when he and Philip Mierzejewski burglarized a house in Valdosta. Convicted of rape, burglary and theft by taking, Brown was serving a life sentence when the Georgia Innocence Project was contacted by one of Brown's former teachers. The Project began corresponding with Brown, then filed a motion for him on Aug. 29, 2003.

Judge Arthur "Mac" McLane, chief judge of the Southern Judicial Circuit, granted Brown's extraordinary motion for post-conviction DNA testing on Jan. 5, 2004.

Test results came back Monday, slamming the door shut on Brown.

District Attorney David Miller said his office didn't object to reopening the case. "We're not afraid of the truth. We want the truth."

In fact, the District Attorney's Association was active a few years ago in drafting the statute that the Georgia Innocence Project cited on Brown's behalf. Miller supports the state law McLane invoked to reopen the case.

What frustrates the District Attorney is how the Project has resources to get DNA results back so quickly on a convicted felon like Brown. The District Attorney said most rape kits sit in state crime labs for four to five months before being tested. The lives of suspects who reside in jail and victims of horrible crimes are put on hold until the DNA tests come back.

The Georgia Innocence Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, works to free the wrongly prosecuted through the use of DNA testing. The organization receives funding from the Georgia Bar Foundation, the Lawyers Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the Hewitt Foundation, ChoicePoint Cares, the Charles Edmundson Foundation and various private donations. The Project began its operations in August 2002. Casework is done primarily by volunteer law students and attorneys throughout Georgia with supervision from the Project's executive director, Aimee Maxwell.

Miller said his confidence in the case against Brown never wavered.

About 2 a.m. July 7, 1987, two men broke into a house in Valdosta. A woman in the house woke up and was surprised in her bedroom by one of the men, who told her to cover her head.

The woman told investigators she never saw her attacker, but she could identify the man's voice.

In August 1987, police arrested Mierzejewski in a truck that was stolen the night of the attack. Brown's wallet was found in the truck. Confronted with the burglary and rape, Mierzejewski admitted to the burglary but said that Brown was the person raped the woman.

Miller said Mierzejewski tried to prevent Brown from raping the victim. "Of course, Brown would have none of it. He decided to do what he wanted to do."

Wanda Edwards, Lowndes County Sheriff's Office detective sergeant, never doubted the case's outcome.

"The investigators did an outstanding job," Edwards said. "When the DNA became available, we were for going ahead with the testing."

Edwards hopes that the victim will be relieved to know this aspect of the case is over. "I have no doubts the right people were put in jail. It was prosecuted very well," she said.

Sheriff Ashley Paulk said examining Brown's DNA proved to be a fantastic test case for the Sheriff's Office. Lowndes County has one of the highest conviction rates of any department. "We don't ever go with a weak case."

The Georgia Innocence Project was assisted in Brown's case by Valdosta criminal defense attorneys Sam Dennis and John Gee Edwards, according to the Project's Web site.

Dr. Greg Hampikian, a DNA expert and professor of biology at Clayton College and State University, donated his time to help prepare the defense team on DNA issues and to testify for Brown.

To contact City Editor Heath Griner, call (229) 244-3400, ext. 274.