The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday threw out arson and murder convictions against a West Georgia man who has languished in prison since 2007.
Ruling in the case of Justin Chapman, 35, the unanimous court found that prosecutors withheld important evidence that could have been used in Chapman’s defense. The justices said Chapman is entitled to a new trial.
Chapman was convicted of the June 20, 2006, killing of Alice Jackson, 79, in Bremen. Prosecutors said he set fire to his duplex to retaliate against his landlady because she told him to look for another place to live. The predawn fire spread to the adjoining apartment, where Jackson died of smoke inhalation.
Chapman, who has always maintained his innocence, may be freed from prison in a matter of days.
The Chapman saga will be the subject of a series of podcasts, “Breakdown: railroad justice in a railroad town,” from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution beginning next month.
Haralson County District Attorney Jack Browning would not say whether he plans to retry Chapman, only that he and local police are evaluating their options.
'Another name we can't forget'
“Seeing that justice is delivered is something I take very personally,” Browning said. “For all the focus on whether Justin Chapman received a fair trial, there is another name we cannot forget — Alice Jackson.”
Since Chapman’s trial, Browning added, many of the police and fire investigators and witnesses in the case have moved away from the area, passed away or experienced fading memories. “The case was a difficult and complex one at the time it was originally tried – now, due to these witness-related issues, it is an understatement to say the case in its current posture is exponentially more difficult and complex.”
Chapman’s new lawyers said they share Browning’s desire to seek justice for Jackson.
“(She) was a kind neighbor to the Chapmans and who Justin regularly assisted with chores and errands,” lawyers Michael Caplan and John Rains said in a statement. “We are confident that any future investigation will confirm that Justin is totally innocent.”
The lawyers also expressed relief that Chapman, a father of four, can return home to his family.
“Today is a glorious day for all to witness,” Chapman’s sister, Lesley, said. “I am so blessed and excited for what is to come for Justin Chapman.”
State withheld impeachment evidence
At trial, the prosecution’s star witness was Joseph White, a jailhouse snitch who testified Chapman confessed to him that he started the fire. White also said he was not seeking a deal from prosecutors in exchange for his information.
But prosecutors withheld a videotaped interview of White that showed he was indeed seeking consideration for his testimony. Prosecutors also failed to turn over a page of a letter White wrote to his pastor that also indicated the same thing, the ruling said.
Shortly before Chapman’s trial, prosecutors traveled to a North Georgia prison to interview William Liner, who had been in jail with both Chapman and White. Liner said that Chapman never confessed to the crime and that White had been seeking a deal, the ruling said. It noted the prosecutor never disclosed Liner’s statements to Chapman’s defense attorney.
“White was the only state witness who testified that Chapman had confessed to arson,” Justice Robert Benham wrote.
If the impeachment evidence had been disclosed, Chapman’s attorney could have used it to contradict White’s testimony. This would have created a reasonable probability of a different outcome of the trial, Benham wrote.
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