Defense attorneys seeking to overturn the murder convictions of James Owens and James Thompson based on new DNA evidence have one significant question to overcome: If the men are innocent, why did Thompson confess to the crime?
In response, attorneys in legal papers filed Wednesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court will cite the high-profile case of John Mark Karr?s confession to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.
“Social science research has established that individuals will admit to even heinous crimes they did not commit, and they will do so for a variety of reasons, including police coercion, duress, fear, ignorance and mental impairment,” wrote Thompson?s lawyer, Suzanne Drouet, an assistant public defender with the Innocence Project.
The project is a nonprofit legal clinic that handles cases where postconviction DNA testing of evidence can yield proof of innocence.
“Indeed, just recently, the entire country observed the phenomenon of false confession as the case against John Mark Karr for the murder of JonBenet Ramsey unraveled,” Drouet wrote.
“Karr?s confession appeared to be the result of his obsession with the case and desire for attention and notoriety.”
Thompson confessed Feb. 29, 1988 in Baltimore City Circuit Court to burglarizing the home of Colleen Williar and watching as Owens beat, raped, stabbed and strangled her.
Defense attorneys said that confession was coerced by detectives who lied to Thompson, and he immediately recanted. Baltimore prosecutors also should consider that charges were dropped against Karr, Drouet wrote.
“The district attorney stated the investigation had developed no evidence other than Karr?s ?repeated admissions,? the credibility of which was called into question by the failure to match his DNA to the DNA found on the victim,” she wrote.
