Post by Scumhunter on Dec 30, 2021 1:40:38 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: Tennessee Innocence Project)
From Fox 17 Nashville (fox17.com):
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — The Nashville District Attorney’s office wants to throw out the murder conviction of a man who has now been in jail for almost 30 years.
FOX 17 News first brought you the story of Claude Garrett, a man convicted of murder by arson.
The problems with the case were so glaring that fire experts from all over the world have weighed in on the case.
After a night of late night drinking in 1992, Claude Garrett and his fiancé Lorie Lance came home and smoked a couple cigarettes on the couch. They went to sleep and woke up to a raging fire.
Garrett makes it out the front door, Lance dies at the back of the house.
The investigation concludes that Garrett locked Lance in the laundry closet and set the house on fire.
But there are problems with the case: Lance was not locked in in the laundry room, the latch was not locked, and the science used to claim that Garrett used kerosene to start a fire in the living room is now considered junk science.
If Lance and Garrett were burned in different rooms at different times, why are their injuries identical? They could only be identical if they were together in bed side by side when the fire started.
Eleven fire experts from around the world have looked at the case and every single one of them has concluded no proof of arson. That’s significant—but now the Davidson County DA’s office has concluded the same thing: When stripped of demonstrably unreliable testimony, faulty investigative methods, and baseless speculation, the case against Garrett is nonexistent.
Claude Garrett hasn’t seen the report, FOX 17 News read it to him over the prison phone.
“That hits the nail on the head, I don’t think it could be said any better,” Garrett said. “Wow.”
The DA’s office hired its own fire expert, so that makes 12. It all started with original independent investigator Stuart Bayne.
“Mr. Garrett, for 30 years, nearly the only thing he had on his side was the truth. The only thing he had was the truth,” said Bayne.
The Innocence Project and the DA are asking Judge Jennifer Smith to release Claude Garrett immediately.
“It’s hard to put into a few words Dennis how two decades of work on this, hard to put into words,” said Bayne.
Understand Stuart Bayne has been working 20 years for free on Claude Garrett’s behalf. So this is deeply personal. When Bayne testified on Garrett’s behalf, he did not convince the jury and he has never forgiven himself.
“I could've done it better, I know I could have done it better,” Bayne said. “I could have delivered that unfinished moment...being the fire expert on the stand on behalf of Mr. Garrett, the inevitable word failure comes to mind so it's a raw pill to swallow.”
But now there is more than hope and determination. There is an official request to release Claude Garret. Could he dare dream of being home for Christmas?
“That is hard to wrap your head around, thinking of Christmas and a four-year-old grandson,” Garrett said. “It would be the best Christmas present no doubt.”
Here’s a heart-hurting thought: When Claude Garrett went to prison, his daughter was four years old. Now she has a four-year-old son. There is just no making up for that.
As of Monday night, there is no scheduled hearing yet for the petition to release Claude Garrett.
fox17.com/news/ferrier-files/fire-expert-backs-das-opinion-to-release-claude-garrett-says-truth-was-on-his-side-1992-murder-by-arson-case-crime-alert-tennessee
Tennessee Innocence Project page on case with additional details: www.tninnocence.org/our-clients
Thoughts? Sadly as far as I can tell, Garrett remains in jail. The good news here is even the new DA wants his conviction overturned so let's hope that the nearly 30 year wait may finally be over soon.
