Julie Rea-Harper murder conviction overturned
Anne Warfield
Julie Rea-Harper murder conviction overturned
By DAVE FOPAY - H&R Staff Writer
CARBONDALE - An Illinois appeals court has thrown out the first-degree
murder conviction of Julie Rea-Harper for the 1997 stabbing death of
her 10-year-old son, Joel Kirkpatrick of Charleston.
The 5th District Appellate Court ruled Thursday that Rea-Harper didn't
get a fair trial in March 2002 when a jury convicted her of killing
Joel at her home in Lawrenceville while he was visiting for the
weekend. Harper was sentenced to 65 years in prison.
The judges said they didn't consider the reported confession to the
killing by Texas serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells. Instead, the court
said the trial judge shouldn't have allowed a special prosecutor to
try the case over defense objections.
Joel's father, Len Kirkpatrick of Charleston, said he was "floored"
when he heard about the court's ruling.
"I was disappointed, but at the same time I feel like it's necessary
to stay positive and focused about the real issue, and that is to see
that justice is done in this case," he said.
Kirkpatrick said the 65-year sentence Rea-Harper received isn't enough
to make up for the loss of a child, but the appellate court's ruling
opens the possibility for a new conviction and a new sentence that's
"more just."
Authorities and Rea-Harper's supporters have both noted parts of
Sells' statements that they say support their respective positions
about the claim that he broke into the house and killed Joel.
Lawrence County State's Attorney Todd Reitz, one of the prosecutors in
Rea-Harper's case, called the appellate court's ruling a
"technicality" and pointed out that the court also said the case's
evidence supported a guilty verdict.
"It's our intent to retry her," Reitz said.
Special prosecutor Ed Parkinson, a lawyer in the state Appellate
Prosecutor's Office, had not been sworn in as an assistant state's
attorney before calling a grand jury or trying the case, the court
said.
"Because the defendant specifically challenged the legitimacy of the
prosecutor, the trial court erred in allowing an attorney from the
appellate prosecutor's office to prosecute the case," the court said.
"The defendant had a right to be prosecuted by someone with proper
prosecutorial authority, a personal privilege she did not waive."
Reitz said the request for a special prosecutor was made before he
took office. The trial court shouldn't have granted then-State's
Attorney Michael Crowe's request to appoint a special prosecutor
because there was no conflict or anything preventing Crowe from
handling the case himself, he said.
"There really wasn't any reason Crowe couldn't do it," Reitz said.
"Therefore, that order was wrong."
One of Rea-Harper's lawyers, Allen Wolfe of Orion, Mich., was
jubilant.
"I'm a former federal and state prosecutor," Wolfe said. "I can say
without a doubt justice has been done."
He'll soon ask that Rea-Harper be released from the Dwight
Correctional Center on bond, he said. However, Reitz said that would
be "subverting the process" because the appellate court's actual
ruling hasn't been released yet, so it's not known if it includes any
instructions concerning her release. He said he didn't know when the
details of the court's ruling would be known.
Rea-Harper, now 35, was studying educational psychology at Indiana
University when she was arrested in 2000. Police say she savagely
stabbed Joel in the middle of the night as he slept in her home. She
had recently lost custody of him to her former husband, Len
Kirkpatrick, in a bitter court battle.
Rea-Harper told police she wrestled with a masked intruder who
attacked her son and got away. But prosecutors told the jury there
were no signs of a struggle at the home.
Rob Warden, director of Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful
Convictions, which worked on the appeal, said Rea-Harper would be
aided in any new trial by new evidence that has surfaced since her
first one, including Sells' confession.
Dave Fopay can be reached at dfo...@jg-tc.com or 345-7085. The
Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2004/06/26/news/state/1001372.txt
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
tinydancer
"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
news:40df25d4...@news.prodigy.net...
> From the [Decatur IL] Herald & Review--
>
> Julie Rea-Harper murder conviction overturned
Thanks for the update on this one Anne. Do you think she'll actually be
released from prison?
td
Anne Warfield
<tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
>news:40df25d4...@news.prodigy.net...
>> From the [Decatur IL] Herald & Review--
>>
>> Julie Rea-Harper murder conviction overturned
>
>
>Thanks for the update on this one Anne. Do you think she'll actually be
>released from prison?
Gosh, I hope so!
Anne Warfield
Conviction set aside in slaying of boy
By Maurice Possley
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 27, 2004
The Illinois Appellate Court has set aside the murder conviction and
65-year prison sentence of a Downstate woman found guilty of killing
her 10-year-old son, saying the prosecutors should not have been
appointed to the case.
The ruling clears the way for Julie Rea Harper's lawyers to seek to
introduce new evidence if she is granted a new trial, including a
confession from a man now on Texas' Death Row that he is the real
killer.
Tommy Lynn Sells, a convicted killer suspected of murders in eight
states, has told investigators and lawyers for Northwestern
University's Center on Wrongful Convictions that he killed the boy.
Sells first confessed in a book released two years ago. The court, in
a ruling issued Thursday, declined to address claims raised by lawyers
for Harper that she is not guilty of the 1997 stabbing death of her
son, Joel Kirkpatrick, who was slain as he slept in his bed in
Lawrenceville.
Instead, the court agreed with defense arguments that the appointment
of lawyers from the state appellate prosecutor's office to obtain the
indictment and to prosecute the case violated state law.
In the ruling, the appellate court held that the law in effect at the
time of the indictment that provided authority to the appellate
prosecutor's office did not allow for the lawyers in the office to
handle murder cases. That law has since been amended to allow it.
Further, the court held that the lawyers' appointment as special
prosecutors violated the law, noting that the statute allows such
appointments only when the local county prosecutor is sick, absent,
unable to attend or has a conflict of interest.
"There was no reason given why the duly elected State's Attorney of
Lawrence County requested that he be removed from prosecuting this
case," the opinion said.
Sells was sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1999 murder
of a 13-year-old girl in Del Rio, Texas. He pleaded guilty in
September to the 1999 murder of a 9-year-old girl in San Antonio in
return for a life sentence and also was indicted on charges of
murdering a 13-year-old girl in Missouri.
Authorities suspect Sells also was responsible for murders in
Kentucky, West Virginia, Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Nevada.
Should the case be retried, defense lawyers have said they would seek
to bring new evidence, including Sells' confession, that has been
developed since the first trial.
That evidence likely would include the results of DNA testing of two
unidentified hairs found inside the house the night of the boy's
murder.
Authorities have discounted Sells' confession, saying it includes
information that is incorrect.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0406270316jun27,1,7767686.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed
Hester888Mofet
>
>On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 21:58:13 -0400, "tinydancer"
><tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
>>news:40df25d4...@news.prodigy.net...
>>> From the [Decatur IL] Herald & Review--
>>>
>>> Julie Rea-Harper murder conviction overturned
>>
>>
>>Thanks for the update on this one Anne. Do you think she'll actually
>be
>>released from prison?
>
>
>Gosh, I hope so!
>
If you want to help and you're in Illinois, write to the governor as from what
I hear he is considering clemency. Tommy Lyn Sells is not a willy nilly
confessor like Lucas and I believe he did commit this murder. He was in the
area at the time and had opportunity.
Hester Mofet
Anne Warfield
wrote:
>Anne wrote:
>
>>
>>On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 21:58:13 -0400, "tinydancer"
>><tinyd...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
>>>news:40df25d4...@news.prodigy.net...
>>>> From the [Decatur IL] Herald & Review--
>>>>
>>>> Julie Rea-Harper murder conviction overturned
>>>
>>>
>>>Thanks for the update on this one Anne. Do you think she'll actually
>>be
>>>released from prison?
>>
>>
>>Gosh, I hope so!
>>
>
>If you want to help and you're in Illinois, write to the governor as from what
>I hear he is considering clemency.
I don't think he'll do it unless the polls show it would be good for
him.
(Not a fan of the present non-occupant of the Governor's Mansion.)
Samuel M. Clothman
> If you want to help and you're in Illinois, write to the governor as from what
> I hear he is considering clemency. Tommy Lyn Sells is not a willy nilly
> confessor like Lucas and I believe he did commit this murder. He was in the
> area at the time and had opportunity.
>
> Hester Mofet
Actually, Mr. Sells is indeed a willy nilly confessor. He has
confessed to over 50 murders, many of which have been proven false.
He's desperate to get out of Texas death row and into a
less-oppressive prison system. He has said so himself. Also, Sells'
account of the murder differs significantly from Ms. Haper's (Harper
claims the assailent wore a mask, Sells said he didn't. Sells said he
broke a window to gain access to the house, Harper said the window was
broken during the struggle. Couple this with no signs of a struggl and
no physical evidence linking Sells to the scene). At one point, after
being pressed for further details of the murder, Sells threw his arms
up and declared "Alright, maybe I didn't do it!".
Face facts here folks. Julie is a murderer. She was involved in a very
bitter divorce and had just lost custody of her son to her ex-husband.
If she couldn't have the child, then she would be the custodian of his
memory.