Willie Jerome Manning

Willie Jerome "Fly" Manning (born June 12, 1968) is on death row at Mississippi State Penitentiary, USA, with two death sentences for a conviction of double murder (Steckler-Miller murders). He was previously also convicted and sentenced to death for a second double murder (Jimmerson-Jordan murders), but the State Supreme Court overturned this verdict and ordered a new trial; the charges against him for these murders were dropped.

First case (Steckler-Miller murders)

On May 7, 2013, Manning came within hours of being executed for the 1992 murders of two college students. Manning had requested DNA testing and fingerprint comparison, as he had done unsuccessfully several times previously.[1] In a 5:4 ruling on April 25, 2013 the Mississippi Supreme Court denied him the right to pursue these.[2]

A rape kit, and other physical evidence analysed soon after the murders, had tested negative for biological residue suitable for DNA testing. The Innocence Project countered that modern testing can reveal biological evidence undetected by earlier methods; and DNA testing had exonerated even prisoners with seemingly strong evidence against them.[3] Mississippians Educating for Smart Justice added that physical evidence from the murder scene (including hair from both victims’ hands, scrapings from under their nails, and hair fragments from the car) would probably identify the murderer. [4] Similarly, one of the dissenting judges, Justice James W. Kitchens, wrote “whatever potential harm the denial seeks to avert is surely outweighed by the benefits of ensuring justice by the scientific analysis of all the trace evidence."[5]

Approximately four hours before the scheduled time of execution on May 7, the same Court ruled 8:1 to grant Manning a stay of execution. The judges gave no reason for this decision, but the US Department of Justice had sent lawyers and officials three letters in the preceding five days, stating that various aspects of FBI expert hair and ballistics testimony at Manning’s trial had been “erroneous”.[6] Federal officials scrutinized Manning’s case as part of a wider review of the FBI’s analysis of scientific evidence in thousands of violent crimes in the 1980s and 1990s; this review was intended to correct errors in forensic hair examinations before 2000."[7]

On July 25, 2013, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed its earlier 5-4 ruling preventing the testing of the fingerprints and DNA evidence. The new ruling, which was unanimous, allowed Manning to request analysis of both.[8]

The near-execution arose from Manning’s conviction for the murders of two Mississippi State University students, Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller. The students were found shot to death in December 1992 just outside Starkville, Mississippi. The evidence suggested that Miller had been sexually assaulted,[9] and that Steckler had been run over by a car. [10]

Outside the fraternity house where Steckler and Miller had been earlier, a car was burglarized that night.[11] According to prosecutors the two students interrupted the burglary, and were then forced into Miller’s car, and were robbed and shot.[12] Manning was implicated after witnesses told the police that he was trying to sell items from the burglarized car.[13]

Manning said that he did not commit the murders, and that he was at a club on the night of the murders."[14] He stated that the property he was selling was stolen by someone he did not know.[15] He pointed out that multiple fingerprints found in Miller's car matched neither him nor the two victims.[16] He said that at his trial the prosecutor, Forrest Allgood, illegally dismissed as potential jurors African Americans who read African American magazines, on the grounds that these were liberal publications."[17]

Manning's lawyers argued that some of the trial witness testimony contradicted known facts. They also contended that Manning’s former girlfriend, a key witness, was granted a favorable plea deal on fraud charges, in addition to almost $18,000, to reward her for testifying for the prosecution, arrangements which were not fully disclosed to the trial jury."[18] Manning's lawyers alleged that she also tried to implicate Manning when she asked him leading questions that were secretly recorded by officials and not disclosed to defense attorneys."[19]

Two of the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice letters, sent shortly before Manning's scheduled execution, addressed issues arising from FBI expert hair testimony at Manning’s trial. One letter stated that an FBI examiner had misrepresented his findings about hair fibers,[20] found in Miller’s car, when he concluded that the hair came from an African American. The two victims were white, but Manning is black. This hair sample was the only physical evidence that connected Manning to the murder scene. The authorities stated, "We have determined that the microscopic hair comparison analysis testimony or laboratory report presented in this case included statements that exceeded the limits of science and was, therefore, invalid."[21]

The third Department of Justice letter focused on ballistics testimony at the trial. A witness, Manning’s former girlfriend, said she had once seen Manning firing a gun into a tree. The F.B.I. firearms expert testified that bullets found in the tree had been fired from the same gun as the bullets used in the murders. However, this testimony was later discredited. The Department of Justice letter stated: “The science regarding firearms examinations does not permit examiner testimony that a specific gun fired a specific bullet to the exclusion of all other guns in the world. The examiner could testify to that information, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, but not absolutely.[22] He added, "As with any process involving human judgment, claims of infallibility or impossibility of error are not supported by scientific standards."[23]

Manning’s lawyers stated "A finding by the circuit court that Manning's conviction in the Brooksville Gardens case [Jimmerson-Jordan murders] was procured on the basis of false testimony would also be relevant to the claims in this case (the college students), because it would show a pattern of reliance on testimony procured unfairly.".[24]

Second case (Jimmerson-Jordan murders)

In 1993, 90-year-old Emmoline Jimmerson and her 60-year-old daughter, Alberta Jordan, were murdered during an attempted robbery at their apartment in Starkville. They had been beaten and their throats were slashed. In 1996 Manning was convicted of their murder, and sentenced to death.[25]

The state's key witness, Kevin Lucious,[26] has been serving two life sentences without parole in St. Louis, Missouri, since the mid-1990s, for murder convictions there.[27] Lucious testified that he saw Manning enter the Jimmerson-Jordan apartment on the night of the murders; he also testified that Manning later told him that he had committed the murders."[28] Lucious was the only eyewitness to testify that he saw Manning enter the women’s home, and no witnesses said they saw Manning leave that apartment."[29]

Lucious formally recanted his testimony in 2011. He also filed affidavits stating that his statements given to authorities and his testimony at Manning’s 1996 trial were false, and coerced by authorities because he was afraid he would be charged with the murders.[30] He said that law enforcement produced the information for him to use when testifying.[31] He added that he had told police that someone different had confessed to the murders.[32]

In a 7-2 decision on February 12, 2015, the Mississippi Supreme Court said notes made by Starkville police when they knocked on doors at the complex revealed that the apartment where Lucious claimed to live was in fact vacant when the crime occurred;[33] they also showed that neither Lucious nor his girlfriend were resident in any of the apartments canvassed. The court said police withheld this information from both the district attorney's office and Manning's defense attorneys.

For the majority Justice Randolph wrote: "[T]he State violated Manning’s due-process rights by failing to provide favorable, material evidence." He added "There is no question that defense counsel would have had the opportunity to meaningfully impeach Lucious’s testimony that he lived in the apartment at the time of the crime and saw Manning enter the victims’ apartment. Any attorney worth his salt would salivate at impeaching the State’s key witness using evidence obtained by the Starkville Police Department."[34]

The Mississippi Supreme Court's 7-2 decision granted Manning a new trial for this case,[35] but the charges against him were dropped on April 20 2015.[36]

References

  1. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "With Hours to Go, Execution Is Postponed", May 7, 2013, .
  2. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, .
  3. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "With Hours to Go, Execution Is Postponed", May 7, 2013, .
  4. ↑ Jimmie E Gates and Emily Lane, FBI, Justice Department cite errors in Manning murder trial, The Clarion-Ledger, May 3 2013,
  5. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi inmate's bid for DNA testing is denied with Tuesday execution set," New York Times, May 3, 2013, p. A11,
  6. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "With Hours to Go, Execution Is Postponed", May 7, 2013, .
  7. ↑ Spencer H. Hsu, "Justice Dept. admits flaws in forensic testimony in Mississippi death-row case," Washington Post, May 3 2013, .
  8. ↑ "DNA test granted for Miss. death row inmate," Jackson Clarion-Ledger, July 25, 2013,
  9. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013,
  10. ↑ R.L.Nave, Jackson Free Press, May 3, 2013, "Is Miss. About to 'Lynch' an Innocent Man?".
  11. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, .
  12. ↑ Emily Lane (Reuters), "Miss. execution due Tuesday, FBI claim testimony 'invalid'"
  13. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, .
  14. ↑ R.L.Nave, "Is Miss. About to 'Lynch' an Innocent Man?" Jackson Free Press, May 3, 2013, .
  15. ↑ Spencer Hsu, "Justice dept. admits flaws in forensic testimony in Mississippi death-row case," Washington Post, May 3, 2013, .
  16. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi inmate's bid for DNA testing is denied with Tuesday execution set," New York Times, May 3, 2013, p. A11,
  17. ↑ R.L.Nave, "Is Miss. About to 'Lynch' an Innocent Man?" Jackson Free Press, May 3, 2013, .
  18. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "Mississippi Inmate’s Bid for DNA Tests Is Denied With Tuesday Execution Set," New York Times, May 3 2013, .
  19. ↑ Andrew Cohen, "A Ghost of Mississippi: The Willie Manning Capital Case", May 2, 2013, .
  20. ↑ Andrew Cohen, Feds Acknowledge Scientific Errors in Testimony in Willie Manning Case, The Atlantic, May 6, 2013,
  21. ↑ Emily Lane, Reuters, "Miss. execution due Tuesday, FBI claim testimony 'invalid'," Chicago Tribune, May 6 2013, .
  22. ↑ Campbell Robertson, "With hours to go, execution is postponed," New York Times, May 7 2013, .
  23. ↑ Howard Koplowitz, "Willie Jerome Manning, Mississippi Death Row Inmate, Granted Last-Minute Stay Of Execution," International Business Times, May 7 2013, .
  24. ↑ Jack Elliott Jr, The Associated Press, "Willie Jerome Manning opposes setting of execution date," DJournal, April 3 2013,
  25. ↑ Associated Press, "Willie Manning death row case conviction back before Mississippi Supreme Court," The Mississippi Press - GulfLive, September 1, 2014, .
  26. ↑ Kim Bellware, "Willie Manning, Mississippi Death Row Inmate, Granted New Trial," The Huffington Post, February 13, 2015, .
  27. ↑ Brian Hawkins, "Ruling pending in Manning case hearing," Starkville Daily News, January 16, 2011, .
  28. ↑ Bonnie Allen, "State rests its case after 1st day in Manning murder trial," Columbus Commercial Dispatch, July 24, 1996, p. 1A.
  29. ↑ Kim Bellware, "Willie Manning, Mississippi Death Row Inmate, Granted New Trial," The Huffington Post, February 13, 2015,
  30. ↑ Brian Hawkins, "Ruling pending in Manning case hearing," Starkville Daily News, January 16, 2011, .
  31. ↑ Carl Smith, "Charges effectively dropped against Manning for '93 double homicide," The Dispatch, April 22, 2015, .
  32. ↑ R.L. Nave, "Why Does the State Still want to Kill Willie Jerome Manning", Jackson Free Press, April 29, 2015, .
  33. ↑ Associated Press, "Death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning wins new trial in killing of Starkville women," The Mississippi Link, February 13 2015, .
  34. ↑ Kim Bellware, "Willie Manning, Mississippi Death Row Inmate, Granted New Trial," The Huffington Post, February 13, 2015, .
  35. ↑ "Death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning wins new trial in killing of Starkville women,"
  36. ↑ "Prosecution dropped in Manning case", Starkville Daily News, April 22, 2015, .
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