The Innocence Project, a nationwide campaign to represent people who may have been falsely convicted, has lost the first round in its fight to free Joseph Anthony Buffey. The Clarksburg man is serving 70 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2001 rape and robbery of the 83-year-old mother of a Clarksburg police officer.
Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Bedell, who presided over Buffey’s original case, rejected the arguments on behalf of Buffey, concluding that, among other things, Buffey has “buyer’s remorse” over his guilty plea.
Buffey was a 19-year-old high school dropout and petty criminal at the time of the crime. Innocence Project attorney Al Karlin says Buffey confessed to the attack after an eight-hour interrogation, but later retracted his statement.
The crime was particularly heinous. The elderly woman, who lived alone, was robbed then raped several times.
The Innocence Project’s primary argument now, however, is that recent DNA testing shows Buffey was not the attacker. Instead the fluids left behind belong to another man, Adam Bowers, who is currently incarcerated for an unrelated offense. Bowers is now awaiting trial for the 2001 crime.
Harrison County Assistant Prosecutor David Romano argues that, while the DNA identifies Bowers as the attacker, it does not necessarily exonerate Buffey. Prosecutors say DNA testing shows there was more than one man at the scene, an argument the defense refutes.
Judge Bedell gave the case a thorough review–three full days of testimony and over 10,000 pages of documents—before reaching his decision. The judge pointed out that Buffey could have gone to trial or waited for results of an earlier DNA test, but instead he accepted a plea agreement and admitted his guilt.
Romano agrees. “If he had wanted to stand trial, he had the opportunity.”
But Karlin says it’s not that simple. “There is real evidence that innocent people plead guilty much more often than people would like to believe, often out of fear that if they go ahead with the trial even worse things will happen to them. That’s what happened in this case.”
The case isn’t over. Karlin says the Innocence Project will appeal to the state Supreme Court. As for Buffey, Karlin says “He’s fighting to retain his optimism.”
But as Judge Bedell’s review demonstrated, courts are naturally suspicious when a defendant changes his story and are reluctant to set aside a guilty plea, even when there is new evidence.