|
John Patrick
McCreary
Michael Manning is
finally free. His mother, Diane Manning made tireless efforts
to make sure her son was not forgotten. injusticebusters was
moved by Michael's story from the first time she contact us and
ran this banner for almost two years even though this is a U.S.
case and there is not a whole lot we can do in Canada. Except
bear witness and keep the story alive.
 Diane Manning has brought to our attention
another case of a young man who has been convicted of murder,
based solely on interpretation of a 911 call which is very hard
to understand. This case shows relentless prosecution on the
part of the state. A family is divided. Emotions are high. Sometimes
those close to the scene cannot see the truth as clearly as those
who are at a greater distance. The case of Leon
Walchuk is an example close to home.
Certainly the reports below do not
provide much beyond hysteria for the evidence which has convicted
McCreary.
Murderer of couple given life sentence:
Defendant's family seeks exoneration; victim's mom speaks
By Gregory A. Hall ghall@courier-journal.com,
The Courier-Journal, Saturday, February 8, 2003
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - In an
emotional hearing charged with family tension, John Patrick McCreary
was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without the chance
for parole for 25 years for the murders of his cousin and her
boyfriend.
In issuing the sentence, Jefferson
Circuit Judge Steve Mershon rejected claims from McCreary's family
that a 911 emergency call recording exonerates him.
The hearing included accusations
from the defense of bias by the judge and prosecutor, and complaints
from the victims' families about media coverage and the claims
by McCreary's supporters concerning the 911 recording.
It also included an announcement
that prosecutors are investigating whether the recording McCreary's
mother played at the trial was tampered with; and a request by
the mother of one victim for McCreary to talk about the night
he killed her son.
In his only statement, McCreary
said to Mershon: ''I maintain my innocence, and this case of
injustice is only temporary. Thank you.''
A jury convicted McCreary in
December of the murders of Jessica Hawkins, 24, and Joel Blevins,
29, at their southwestern Jefferson County home in 2000.
During the trial, the prosecution
alluded to a possible robbery motive.
Blevins' mother, JoAnn Thompson
Blevins, stood behind McCreary yesterday and asked him to face
her as she spoke, but McCreary, of Bedford, would not turn around.
''I'm really hurt that you
don't have the backbone to turn around and face me and look me
straight in the eye,'' she said. She then said McCreary had turned
on his own cousin, noting that both victims had helped McCreary
in the past.
''Just tell me, please, tell
me why you did this to my son,'' she said.
She said she could have been
at her son's house that night; she thought about taking leftover
spaghetti to Hawkins and Blevins but didn't.
''Patrick, if I had been there,
would you have shot me too?'' Blevins asked.
She also disputed assertions
by McCreary's supporters that Hawkins identifies Travis Thompson,
JoAnn Thompson Blevins' nephew, on the 911 recording as the shooter.
''It's nothing but lies,''
she said.
She also recalled an earlier
hearing where a defense attorney presented letters from supporters
that McCreary had received since being arrested. ''I can send
you some cards and pictures,'' Blevins said. ''I can send you
some pictures of Jessica and Joel.''
During the trial, a 911 operator
said she heard a dying Hawkins identify McCreary as the shooter
by name and by saying ''my cousin.'' Two other women also said
they had phone conversations with the dying woman in which she
identified the shooter as McCreary.
But McCreary's family maintains
that when the 911 recording is played at a slower speed, Hawkins
actually names a cousin of Blevins. The recording was made from
the court system's video-recording from McCreary's first trial,
which ended in a hung jury. Copies of the 911 audio recording
were played during both trials.
McCreary's family has mounted
a campaign to overturn his conviction. The campaign has included
petitions, letters, booklets, pamphlets, buttons, T-shirts, a
town meeting in Bedford, a booth at a Louisville flea market
and a rally last week outside the Jefferson County Judicial Center.
During yesterday's hearing,
prosecutor Brian Butler said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney
Allan Cobb compared the version of the 911 recording played to
jurors during the second trial by McCreary's mother, Diana Slay,
to the others introduced.
Butler said Cobb believes the
recording was altered and that if an expert concurs, the plan
is ''to convene a grand jury regarding tampering with evidence.''
Slay later said that she didn't
alter the recording except to slow it down.
''If I'm guilty of trying to
help my son, then so be it,'' she said.
Although Mershon said it isn't
his call, he implored prosecutors not to pursue a charge regarding
the recording.
''I think there's enough pain
and hurt and anger on both sides of this family,'' he said, adding,
''I question whether, even if it was altered, it's worth dragging
anybody back through that.''
In his second trial last year,
a jury found McCreary, 28, guilty of shooting Hawkins and Blevins
at their Scenic Trail home on March 22, 2000.
McCreary's first trial ended
in March 2002 with a jury split 8-4 in favor of a conviction,
according to lawyers involved in the case then.
In both trials prosecutors
relied on a 911 recording where a dying Hawkins said she was
shot by ''my cousin.'' Prosecutors contended that she also said,
''Pat'' or ''Patrick,'' but defense attorneys disputed that.
The jury in the second trial
could have recommended the death penalty but recommended life
without possibility of parole for 25 years. Mershon could have
imposed a lesser sentence but could not impose a stiffer sentence.
In issuing the sentence, Mershon
said he rarely deviates from the jury's recommendation and saw
no reason to with McCreary.
Afterward, Jeanette McCreary
said the campaign to overturn her brother's conviction will continue.
''One day, someone will be
able to help us,'' she said.
Patrick McCreary's attorneys
asked for publicly funded lawyers to be appointed for his appeals.
Mershon denied motions by the
attorneys for an acquittal and for a new trial on several grounds,
including the 911 recording and alleged bias by the judge and
Butler.
Defense attorney Ken McCardwell
said during the sentencing that Mershon had rushed the defense
during its case and that Butler disclosed in an interview that
McCreary had failed a polygraph. Mershon said from the bench
that he believed he was fair throughout the trial.
Butler said Mershon was well
within his duty to keep a trial moving when he ordered a defense
attorney to move on in questioning after the same question had
been asked of a witness several times.
The results of the polygraph,
which were not mentioned at trial, are in the court's file, Butler
said. He mentioned the polygraph in an interview last week after
McCreary's supporters' held a rally outside the courthouse.
Man gets life term
in couple's deaths
By GREGORY A. HALL,
The Courier-Journal, Friday, February 7, 2003
John Patrick McCreary, who
was convicted of murdering his cousin and her boyfriend, was
sentenced today to life in prison without parole for 25 years.
During the sentencing Jefferson
Circuit Judge Steve Mershon rejected claims from McCreary's family
that a 911 emergency call recording exonerates him.
The emotional sentencing hearing
included accusations from the defense of bias by the judge and
prosecutor; complaints from the victims' families about media
coverage and the claims by McCreary's supporters concerning the
911 recording; an announcement that prosecutors are investigating
whether the recording McCreary's mother played at the second
trial was tampered with; and a request by the mother of one victim
for McCreary to talk about the night he killed her son.
In his only statement, McCreary
said to Mershon: "Yes, your honor. I maintain my innocence,
and this case of injustice is only temporary. Thank you."
A jury convicted McCreary in
December of the murders of Jessica Hawkins, 24, and Joel Blevins,
29, at their southwestern Jefferson County home in 2000.
Blevins' mother, JoAnn Thompson
Blevins, stood behind McCreary today and asked him to face her
as she spoke. McCreary did not turn around. A tearful Blevins
then said McCreary had turned on his own cousin, noting that
both victims had helped McCreary in the past.
"Just tell me, please,
tell me why you did this to my son," she said.
She also disputed assertions
by McCreary's supporters that Hawkins identifies Travis Thompson,
JoAnn Thompson Blevins' nephew, on the 911 recording as the shooter.
"It's nothing but lies,"
she said.
During the trial, a 911 operator
said she heard a dying Hawkins identify McCreary as the shooter
by name and by saying "my cousin." Two other women
also said they had phone conversations with the dying woman where
she identified the shooter as McCreary.
But McCreary's family maintains
that, when the 911 recording is played at a slower speed, Hawkins
actually names a cousin of Blevins. The recording was made from
the court system's video-recording from McCreary's first trial,
which ended in a hung jury. Copies of the 911 audio recording
were played during both trials.
McCreary's family has mounted
a campaign to overturn his conviction. The campaign has included
petitions, letters, booklets, pamphlets, buttons, T-shirts, a
town meeting in Bedford, Ky., a booth at a Louisville flea market
and a rally last week outside the Jefferson County Judicial Center.
During today's hearing, prosecutor
Brian Butler said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Allan Cobb
compared the version of the 911 recording played to jurors during
the second trial by McCreary's mother, Diana Slay, to the others
introduced.
Butler said Cobb believes the
recording was altered and that if an expert concurs, the plan
is "to convene a grand jury regarding tampering with evidence."
Slay shook her head as Butler
said that, and later said that she didn't alter the recording
except to slow it down.
"If I'm guilty of trying
to help my son, then so be it," she said.
Jurors deadlock in double
murder case
By Gregory A. Hall,
The Courier-Journal, Saturday, March 30, 2002
At least two jurors with concerns
about ''reasonable doubt'' led to a hung jury in a double murder
trial yesterday, said attorneys who talked with some jurors afterward.
Lawyers for both sides said
the jury was split 8-4 for conviction in the case of John Patrick
McCreary, 28, of Bedford, Ky. He faced two charges of murder
in Jefferson Circuit Court in the March 2001 shooting deaths
of his cousin, Jessica Hawkins, and her boyfriend, Joel Blevins.
If convicted, the jury could
have recommended the death penalty.
McCreary is scheduled to appear
before Judge Steve Mershon on Monday for a new trial date to
be set.
Whether prosecutors seek the
death penalty again will be a decision for Commonwealth's Attorney
Dave Stengel, but Brian Butler, one of the assistant commonwealth's
attorneys assigned to the case, said he does not expect that
to change.
Prosecutors contended that
McCreary shot Hawkins, 24, and Blevins, 28, at their home on
Scenic Trail in southwestern Jefferson County.
In a tape-recorded call that
the wounded Hawkins made to 911 Hawkins said her ''cousin'' shot
her.
Prosecutors contended that
she also said ''Pat'' did it, but a beep made the second syllable
of the name inaudible. Defense attorneys disputed that Hawkins
actually named the assailant, saying that the sound prosecutors
claimed was ''Pat'' could have been anything.
The jurors deliberated part
of Thursday and yesterday before the judge dismissed them. The
outcome left all sides in the case facing another trial that
has divided a family.
''The 911 call says it all,''
said Honey Thompson, a cousin of Blevins. ''Jessica named who
killed them and the jury chose to ignore that.''
Jeanette McCreary, the defendant's
older sister, said the outcome ''gives me hope. It's definitely
better than a guilty plea.''
''It's torn the family apart,''
Jeanette McCreary said.
''I didn't want that,'' said
Jesse Hawkins, Jessica's father, referring to the divisions in
the family. ''I'm very displeased with the court system,'' he
said. ''Jessica told the whole world who shot her.''
Prosecutors Butler and Jan
Brightwell said jurors may have been concerned by the absence
of blood on McCreary and his clothing. During the trial, prosecutors
said the shooter may have been far enough away that blood wouldn't
have spattered on him.
Defense attorney Ted Walton
predicted a retrial will bring an acquittal.
Defense attorneys argued that
no witnesses placed McCreary in Jefferson County. Friends testified
McCreary was with them at the time of the shooting. But initially,
McCreary told police he was with different friends, who denied
McCreary was with them.
Double-murder case
still before jury
By Gregory A. Hall,
The Louisville Courier-Journal, March 29, 2002
After nearly 10 hours of deliberation
yesterday, jurors in a double-murder trial told the judge last
night that they couldn't reach a verdict.
''What that means is we all
need a good night's sleep,'' Jefferson Circuit Judge Steve Mershon
told the jurors before sequestering them in a hotel overnight.
The jurors, who began deliberating
shortly before noon, will continue today to try to decide whether
to convict a Bedford, Ky., man who is accused of driving to his
cousin's home in southwestern Jefferson County and killing her
and her boyfriend.
John Patrick McCreary, 28,
could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors alleged that McCreary
shot his cousin, Jessica Hawkins, and her boyfriend, Joel Blevins,
at their home on Scenic Trail about 6 p.m. on March 22, 2001.
Emotions ran high last night
as families of the victims and the defendant waited for the jury's
decision. Before jurors emerged to announce they could not reach
a verdict, Mershon told the court that deputies had heard people
making threats toward each other.
''I know that you can hold
your emotions in check,'' he warned the families.
In a 911 call played several
times during the trial, Hawkins told an operator that her ''cousin''
shot her. Prosecutors said she specifically said ''Pat'' did
it, but a beep made the second syllable of the name inaudible.
Defense attorneys disputed
that Hawkins actually named the assailant.
That sound ''could be a groan,
could be anything,'' defense attorney Cynthia Crick said during
closing statements.
Both victims were shot multiple
times. Blevins, 28, was wounded in the head and the left arm
and suffered a bullet abrasion on the left side of his abdomen,
according to a medical examiner's report. Hawkins, 24, was shot
six times, according to a medical examiner's report.
In other calls, Hawkins told
a relative and a friend immediately after the shooting that McCreary
had shot her, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said McCreary
had lied to police when he told them he had been at the home
of friends at the time of the shooting. Those friends denied
that McCreary was there.
During the trial, other friends
testified that McCreary was with them at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutors contended that the second pair of friends, who never
spoke to police before the trial, lied after McCreary's initial
alibi failed.
Defense attorneys argued that
no witnesses placed McCreary in Jefferson County on the day of
the shooting.
And physical evidence at the
scene exonerated McCreary, Crick said, referring to a bloody
footprint that wasn't his. She also cited a bite mark on Blevins'
face that a defense expert said probably didn't match McCreary's
teeth.
''They have no case,'' she
said of the prosecution.
Brian Butler, an assistant
commonwealth's attorney, said the footprint belonged to police.
There was so much blood around the home -- Hawkins had walked
around after being shot -- that it was difficult to avoid, he
said.
McCreary killed Blevins, and
''once he killed Joel, he couldn't leave a witness,'' so he shot
his cousin, Butler argued.
''He did leave a witness,''
Butler said. ''She fought. She fought to get to that telephone
and ask for help. . . . She told you who the murderer was.''
There is no reason Hawkins
would lie with her dying breaths, Butler said.
Jurors ask to view
taped testimony in 2 slayings
By Gregory A. Hall,
The Courier-Journal, Saturday, December 7, 2002
Jurors began deliberating last
night in the retrial of John Patrick McCreary, a Trimble County
man accused of killing his cousin and her boyfriend at the couple's
Jefferson County home.
Just after 9 p.m., jurors were
brought back to the courtroom after deliberating three hours
and were taken to a hotel, where they are being sequestered.
Deliberations will resume this morning.
The jury last night asked to
watch recorded testimony from several witnesses. Jefferson Circuit
Judge Steve Mershon calculated that viewing the tapes would take
seven hours, but he did not tell jurors that. Instead, he told
them they would have to watch all the testimony for each witness
they request.
Mershon subsequently told jurors
he would give them some time this morning to determine if they
still wanted to watch all of the testimony.
McCreary, 28, of Bedford, could
face the death penalty if he is convicted of murdering Jessica
Hawkins, 24, and Joel Blevins, 29. The couple were shot about
6 p.m. on March 22, 2001, at their Scenic Trail home.
McCreary's first trial ended
in March with a jury split 8-4 in favor of a conviction, according
to lawyers on the case then.
Although investigators found
none of the victims' blood on McCreary, his clothes or in his
car, prosecutors based their case, as they did in the first trial,
on a 911-call tape where a dying Jessica Hawkins said ''my cousin''
shot her. Prosecutors also claim she said ''Pat'' or ''Patrick.''
Prosecutors have alluded to
a possible robbery motive.
McCreary's defense teams disputed
in both trials in that Hawkins identified McCreary.
During closing arguments yesterday,
defense lawyer Ken McCardwell, who was not involved in the first
trial, said Hawkins told the 911 operator that Travis Thompson,
one of Blevins' cousins, had killed her.
McCardwell also said that because
Blevins was involved with drugs and that drugs were sold from
the home, any number of people could have had motives to kill
him and his girlfriend.
Additionally, McCardwell said
McCreary couldn't have driven from the Jefferson County home
at 6 p.m. and gotten to a friend's house near Bedford by 6:30
p.m. The friend testified to having seen McCreary at that time.
McCardwell also questioned
the lack of physical evidence presented by the prosecution.
In the 20 months since McCreary
was arrested, McCardwell said, McCreary's father and grandfather
have died. ''Everybody's life is important, but it would be equally
tragic to send him to prison or to send him to the electric chair
on a circumstantial-evidence case,'' McCardwell said.
Prosecutor Brian Butler objected
after the reference to the electric chair, and Mershon said jurors
were only deciding guilt or innocence.
In the prosecution's closing,
Butler said that, in fact, McCreary never went to the friend's
house near Bedford after the shooting. Instead, he was first
seen at a different home nearby about 90 minutes after the shooting
-- enough time to drive there, the prosecutor said.
Butler referred jurors to testimony
from the aunt of both McCreary and Hawkins and from one of Hawkins'
friends -- both of whom told police that they talked by phone
to a dying Hawkins and that she said McCreary had shot her. He
also cited the testimony of the 911 operator, who testified Hawkins
identified McCreary.
And he told jurors not to let
Hawkins' dying declaration go in vain.
''She deserves justice,'' he
said.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
