Title
Justin Wolfe Prince William County Virginia Sentenced to Death in Virginia on a LIE
Date
March 1, 2012
State or Country
Virginia
County/City:
Prince William County
The Court the Case was filed in
Prince William County Circuit Court
Type of Case
Death Row Case - Murder for Hire
Case Number
CR 0505048900
Judges
Chief Judge Mary Grace O'Brien
Plaintiff
The State of Virginia
Defendant
Justin Wolfe
Plaintiff Attorney
King & Spalding secured a reversal of Justin's conviction and sentence from the USDC for the Eastern District of Virginia The court ruled that Justin’s constitutional rights were violated in several ways, including denial of his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment and denial of his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.
Defendant Attorney
Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Raymond Morrogh
Was to Fix what Paul Ebert had done
The federal courts found that the Prince William county prosecutors violated their constitutional
obligation by failing to inform Mr. Wolfe’ attorneys that Owen Barber, the admitted shooter in the case,
implicated Mr. Wolfe only after the police told him he should accuse Mr. Wolfe of being involved and
told him that if he did not implicate Mr. Wolfe, he would likely face the death penalty himself. Mr. Barber has since recanted his testimony implicating Wolfe in the crime and has admitted that Mr. Wolfe
had nothing to do with the murder. It is significant that both the federal district court and the appeals
court found that the only direct evidence linking Mr. Wolfe to the crime was the testimony of Mr. Barber.
Comments
By
Tom Jackman
Jan. 8, 2019 at 1:02 p.m. EST
Although Justin Wolfe filed a four-page handwritten confession in 2016 and pleaded guilty to ordering the murder of a fellow marijuana dealer, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ordered that Virginia give Wolfe a new hearing on his claim that he was coerced into the plea by vindictive prosecutors in Fairfax and Prince William counties.
The high court reaffirmed its holding issued last year, and in rulings before that, that defendants who plead guilty may still file appeals if the conviction violates the Constitution. In Wolfe’s case, after his first conviction for capital murder was overturned, prosecutors added more charges against him. He pleaded guilty to murder but claimed that the additional charges amounted to unconstitutional vindictiveness by the prosecutors. Virginia’s appeals courts declined to address the merits of Wolfe’s claim; the Supreme Court ruled they must.
The high court’s ruling is the latest twist in a nearly 18-year-old case that began with the slaying of 21-year-old Daniel Petrole Jr. in Bristow, Va., in March 2001. Petrole was a supplier of marijuana to Wolfe, then 19, and Petrole’s death uncovered a vast drug network distributing marijuana and ecstasy to high-schoolers throughout Northern Virginia. Prince William prosecutors alleged that Wolfe asked his friend Owen Barber to rob and kill Petrole because he was carrying large amounts of cash and marijuana, believing if they only robbed Petrole he would seek revenge.
At trial in 2002, Barber testified that he shot Petrole at Wolfe’s request and received a plea deal with a lesser murder charge and a 38-year sentence. A jury convicted Wolfe and sentenced him to death.
But in 2011, a federal judge in Norfolk ordered a new trial for Wolfe, ruling that Prince William prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense, including a police report stating that a detective suggested to Barber that he claim that Wolfe ordered the murder as a way for Barber to escape the death penalty. Barber has subsequently recanted that testimony, then later reversed himself and said Wolfe did order the murder. Most recently, Barber testified to the Norfolk judge that Wolfe did not order the killing. Read More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/01/08/supreme-court-orders-va-hear-appeal-justin-wolfe-who-pleaded-guilty-murder/
Document Links 1 (Scribd et. al)
https://www.scribd.com/document/229923434/PWC-Judge-O-Brien-Justin-Wolfe
Judges Comments
Dear Judge O’Brien,
As former judges, prosecutors, and other members of the legal community, we are deeply disturbed by the misconduct of prosecutors that led a jury to sentence Justin Wolfe to death. We are equally
troubled by the haste with which the newly appointed special prosecutor, Fairfax Commonwealth's
Attorney Raymond Morrogh, has decided to re-try Mr. Wolfe. A case of this magnitude, involving
findings of serious misconduct by the original prosecutors and a high level of media attention, must
have every appearance of propriety in order to maintain public confidence in the fairness of these
proceedings.
Mr. Wolfe has languished on Virginia’s death row for 11 years for a murder that a federal court
concluded he most likely did not commit. Wolfe’s initial conviction in an alleged murder-for-hire
scheme followed a trial in which, as found by the federal district court and the Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals, the prosecutors deliberately hid evidence from Mr. Wolfe’s lawyers that could have established
his innocence. Now, just a few short weeks after a federal appeals court threw out Mr. Wolfe’s
conviction because of these blatantly unconstitutional violations, he faces a new trial at the request of
Mr. Morrogh.
A special prosecutor should conduct a meaningful, independent review of the case. Unfortunately, less
than 24 hours after his appointment, Mr. Morrogh announced his intention to retry Wolfe. This
suggests a hurried decision in which the special prosecutor did not carefully examine the evidence to
reach an independent conclusion about the case, but instead relied on the earlier deliberation of the
Prince William County prosecutors—prosecutors who were responsible for the misconduct and errors in
judgment that left Mr. Wolfe on death row for more than a decade.
This apparent haste is even more troubling in light of the fact that Mr. Morrogh was appointed special
prosecutor at the recommendation of Paul Ebert, in an ex parte proceeding, without opportunity for Mr.
Wolfe’s attorneys to be heard. Mr. Ebert is one of the Prince William County prosecutors who were
forced to recuse themselves after both the federal district court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
found them responsible for withholding evidence that Wolfe’s attorneys could have used to defend
himself and prove his innocence.
The federal courts found that the Prince William county prosecutors violated their constitutional
obligation by failing to inform Mr. Wolfe’ attorneys that Owen Barber, the admitted shooter in the case,
implicated Mr. Wolfe only after the police told him he should accuse Mr. Wolfe of being involved and
told him that if he did not implicate Mr. Wolfe, he would likely face the death penalty himself. Mr.
The Honorable Mary Grace O’Brien
Page 2 of 5
Barber has since recanted his testimony implicating Wolfe in the crime and has admitted that Mr. Wolfe
had nothing to do with the murder. It is significant that both the federal district court and the appeals
court found that the only direct evidence linking Mr. Wolfe to the crime was the testimony of Mr.
Barber.
The federal district court made its findings of innocence and prosecutorial misconduct after conducting
a four-day evidentiary hearing and reviewing thousands of pages of Mr. Wolfe’s trial, appeal, and
habeas records. These detailed and well-documented findings should have given the prosecution pause.
Absent the discredited murder-for-hire theory of the original prosecution, and given Mr. Barber’s
subsequent admission that Mr. Wolfe was not involved in any way with the murder of Mr. Petrole, the
special prosecutor should have carefully considered his decision to proceed with a new trial. Instead,
less than 24 hours after his appointment, the special prosecutor announced his conclusion that Mr.
Wolfe was “absolutely” involved in the murder and that he would be re-tried for capital murder. This
apparent rush to judgment raises serious questions about the propriety of the re-trial proceedings now
underway and the independence of the special prosecutor who has been appointed.
It is critical that any prosecutor appointed in this case conduct a thorough, independent investigation
into Mr. Wolfe’s case—a case that is now plagued with doubts shared by judges who have reviewed the
earlier conviction and faces serious questions from a public disappointed by the previous prosecutor’s
conduct.
Respectfully,
Cal T. Bain, Public Defender, Virginia Beach
Allen Bareford, Public Defender, City of Fredericksburg
William G. Bassler, Former Judge, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1991-
2006); Superior Court for the State of New Jersey (1988-1991)
Rebecca A. Betts, Former United States Attorney, Southern District of West Virginia (1994-2001)
Stephen L. Braga, Law Offices of Stephen L. Braga, PLLC
Kathleen M. Braga, Law Office of Stephen L. Braga, PLLC
William G. Broaddus, Former Attorney General, Virginia (1985-1986), Former Chief Deputy Attorney
General (1982-1985), Former Assistant Attorney General (1970-1973)
Blair Brown, Zuckerman Spaeder LLP
David I. Bruck, Clinical Professor of Law Director, Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, Washington & Lee
University School of Law
Paul T. Butler, Former Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Public Integrity Section (1990-1993)
The Honorable Mary Grace O’Brien
Page 3 of 5
Matthew S. T. Clark, Assistant Public Defender
Barry Coburn, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia (1985-1990)
Angela J. Davis, Professor, American University Washington College of Law
Glen Donath, Partner, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
J. Amy Dillard, Associate Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law
B. Leigh Drewry, Former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Campbell County (1984-1986) and City of
Lynchburg (1986-1994); Cunningham & Drewry
Paul F. Enzinna, Adjunct Professor, George Washington University School of Law; Brown Rudnick LLP
Matthew T. Foley, Public Defender, Arlington County and the City of Falls Church
John J. Gibbons, Director and Founder, John J. Gibbons Fellowship in Public Interest and Constitutional
Law, Gibbons PC; Former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit (1987-1990)
Daniel F. Goldstein, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Maryland (1976-1982)
Sandra L. Haley, Public Defender, City of Martinsville, Henry County, Patrick County
Fred Heblich, Federal Public Defender Office, Charlottesville
David Heilberg, Dygert Wright Hobbs & Heilberg, PLC
Michael T. Hemenway, Former Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, Charlottesville (1990-1992);
Former Assistant Attorney General of New Mexico (1987-1989); Former Assistant District Attorney,
Albuquerque, New Mexico (1986)
William Hendricks, Former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Albemarle County (2009-11)
Marin Himeles, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Maryland (1986-1990); Zuckerman
Spaeder LLP
Roscoe Howard, Former United States Attorney, District of Columbia (2001-2004); Former Assistant
United States Attorney, District of Columbia (1984-1987); Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Eastern District of Virginia (1987-1991)
Glenn F. Ivey, Former State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, Maryland (2002-2010)
June M. Jeffries, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia (1983-2008)
Clifford T. Keenan, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia (1985-2004)
The Honorable Mary Grace O’Brien
Page 4 of 5
John D. King, Director, Criminal Justice Clinic, Washington & Lee University School of Law
Rachel Lieber, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia (1997-2010); Former
Executive United States Attorney, District of Columbia (2010-2011)
Corinne J. Magee, Former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Fairfax County (1981-1987); The Magee
Law Firm, PLLC
Joseph J. McCarthy, Former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Alexandria (1983-1987);
Delaney, McCarthy & Colton, P.C.
Julie McConnell, Former Supervising Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Richmond (2006-
2011); Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law
Steve J. McCool, Former Assistant United States Attorney, District of Columbia (1990-1998)
James E. Moliterno, Vincent Bradford Professor of Law, Washington & Lee University School of Law
Peter J. Neufeld, Co-Director, The Innocence Project
Stephen A. Northup, Troutman Sanders LLP
Stephen M. Orlofsky, Former Judge, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1995-
2003)
Timothy P. O’Toole, Miller Chevalier
Todd Petit, Public Defender, City of Fairfax
John P. Pierce, Former Assistant United State Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia (1997-2000), District
of Columbia (1995-1997), Southern District of California (1987 – 1995); Themis PLLC
Douglas A. Ramseur, Capital Defender for Southeast Virginia
Rebecca M. Robinson, Portsmouth Public Defender Office
Mark Rochon, Chair, Litigation Department, Miller Chevalier
Steven D. Rosenfield, Attorney at Law
Stephen D. Rosenthal, Former Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia (1993-1994); Troutman
Sanders LLP
Barry C. Sheck, Co-Director, The Innocence Project
Alexander H. Slaughter, McGuireWoods
The Honorable Mary Grace O’Brien
Page 5 of 5
Abbe L. Smith, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Brenda C. Spry, Public Defender, City of Portsmouth
Amy Stitzel, Assistant Public Defender, Arlington County and Falls Church City
Mary Kelly Tate, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law
Paul R. Thomson, Jr., Former United States Attorney, Western District of Virginia (1975-1979); Assistant
United States Attorney (1971-1975); Deputy Assistant Administrator for Criminal Enforcement, EPA
(1987-1990)
Ricardo Urbina, Former Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia (1994-2012);
Former Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia (1981-1994)
Thomas L. Watkins, Former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Virginia Beach (1983-1989) and
County of Chesapeake (1978-1983); Public Defender, City of Hampton;
Solomon L. Weisenberg, Former Deputy Independent Counsel, Whitewater Investigation; Former
Assistant United States Attorney, Western District of Texas (1989-1997), Eastern District of North
Carolina (1987-1989)
Gerald T. Zerkin, Capital Resource Counsel, Federal Public Defender Office