August 19, 1995

Shannon McHale
14 Sunnybend
Newark, DE. 19702

Mr. James Broccoletti
6663 Stoney Point South
Norfolk, Virginia 23502

Dear Mr. Broccoletti,

This is a statement prepared by myself to let someone be aware of the way I was treated by Prosecuting attorney, Chuck Griffith.

Mr. Griffith first contacted me via telephone in May of 1995. I believe I was very cooperative with him and answered all his questions to the best of my abilities. He made contact with me several times thereafter. During our "questions and answers" he LED me into questions and made me believe that he wanted other answers from me. Answers which were not of truth, regarding my experiences with the defendant, Derek R. Barnabei. I did tell Mr. Griffith that "I would not lie for him or anyone else for that matter." He became a little upset with me and insisted that he did not mean to insinuate anything of the kind. The demeanor of Mr. Griffith then turned harsh towards me and at the end of our discussion he said I was not very cooperative. He then thanked me for my time and asked if he can talk with me at a later date.

I strongly believe that Mr. Griffith wanted me to answer his questions in ways that were not the truth, as I knew it. I then believe that he was not "happy" with me because I would not cooperate with his methods of the law.

Sincerely,


Shannon M. McHale

December 26, 1995

To Whom It May Concern,

This is a statement pertaining to the capital murder case of Derek Rocco Barnabei regarding certain unethical strategies that were employed by one Charles Griffith, prosecutor for the state of Virginia, and one Shawn Squyres, detective for the Norfolk, Virginia police department. Subsequent to Derek's apprehension on December 19, 1993, I was contacted repeatedly by phone by Detective Squyres. The purpose of this contact was to gain permission from myself to conduct a search of Derek's belongings which were then in my possession. Upon the advice of a criminal defense attorney, I denied his request pending the production of a legal search warrant. Upon this, Detective Squyres became hostile, threatening to arrest and charge me with interfering with a criminal investigation and aiding and abetting a known criminal if I were aware of or had tampered with any of the evidence he was looking for. I became very frightened at this point, and while wanting to cooperate fully, I still did not want either mine nor Derek's rights infringed upon. I then asked Detective Squyres if he could not describe what he was looking for and I could confirm if they were contained within Derek's belongings. He then stated he was looking for any weapons, tools, or women's jewelry that did not belong to me. I confirmed that there were no such items anywhere in my place of residence. He again requested permission to enter and conduct a search, and I again denied him, asking to view a warrant before admitting him entrance. He became angry again, stating that he could obtain a warrant "faster than you could say 'Jack S**t", and he disconnected without saying goodbye. Detective Squyres contacted me again by phone several days later, again requesting permission to conduct a search. Again, I denied him, and he then asked if I would consent to turning in all of Derek's belongings to the police. This, too, I denied. He then asked if he could come over to my apartment to discuss some information about Derek that he "thought [I] would be interested in knowing". I felt very uncomfortable with this and tried repeatedly to decline his Offer. After several minutes of coercement, I finally agreed to meet him, his associate, and a representative of the Cuyahoga Falls police department at a public place, a local restaraunt. I felt extremely distrustful of Detective Squyres at this point due to his violent reactions during our earlier conversation. Subsequent to my arrival at the restaraunt, Detective Squyres waved me over and I approached him cautiously. He then proceeded to tell me several things about Derek. He stated that Derek was a smooth talking con artist who made a living going from state to state and tricking women out of all their money. He said that Derek told some people that he was a college graduate, some that he owned a business, some that his father was rich, when he in fact came from a middle class family and he was a high school drop-out. Squyres informed me that Derek had been in trouble with the police quite a bit, mostly for beating up on women, but that he had went too far this last time and had killed a girl in Virginia. I said nothing through all of this. At one point, the Cuyahoga Falls detective excused himself. At this point, Detective Squyres leaned toward me and asked "I can tell by the look on yoursface that you don't believe any of this, do you?" I responded "No." He laughed and said "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I am going to put this mother f**ker away for the rest of his life. I really don't care if he did it or not." At that point, I was so shocked that I just stood up and left the restaraunt without saying a word. That was the last contact I had with Detective Squyres.

Several weeks later, I was contacted by a man who identified himself as Charles Griffith, prosecutor for Derek's case. At this time, I had been instructed by Derek's defense attorney not to answer any questions nor divulge any information to anyone about Derek's case. Mr. Griffith began by expressing sympathy for my situation, that he was "sorry that [I] had been betrayed by someone [I] loved" and that "Derek is a very good con man and [I] was lucky to escape with [my] life.", and he immediately began asking me questions about the relationship between Derek and myself. I answered that I had been advised not to speak to anyone regarding Derek and that I would appreciate it if he did not try to contact me again. He said that he understood I was upset, but that he had only wanted me to know that if I decided that I might prefer to testify against Derek, he had ample funding with which not only would my trip to Virginia be paid for, but I would also be compensated handsomely for my “grief and suffering”. He asked me to contact him personally if I should decide in the future that this would be 'a benefit' I would like to persue. He then stated that he hoped to hear from me soon and wished me well, disconnecting before I could even respond. That was the only contact I encountered with Charles Griffith.

I feel that the actions displayed by these two men were not only inappropriate but unethical. Of these two, neither were concerned with the delivery of justice, only with the persecution of Derek Barnabel, be him guilty or not.

Carla Marie DeSantis