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The Prosecutor- Mr. Charles Griffith
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Between 1992 and 1994 of Mr. Griffith's tenure as Commonwealth Attorney, six men
were accused of murder (and three convicted) in cases where it was later reported that Mr.
Griffith's office had not turned-over exculpatory evidence it was legally obligated to
give the defense.
Defense has two
affidavits of witnesses who
stated that he badgered them when they refused to falsely testify.
A recent article on Chuck Griffith as
reported on The Virginia Pilot
You judge this man's character
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The Chief Detective- Mr. Shaun Squyres
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Formerly
chief homicide investigator in Norfolk, Squyres was reassigned to the robbery after his
investigation of Sarah Wisnosky's murder. He was also scrutinized by the media for
improper investigation of several suspects in other cases. In one case, the Virginia
Court of Appeals granted a defendant convicted of murder a rare full hearing after
allegations that Squyres bribed him into signing a statement implicating two other
individuals by conditioning his girlfriend's prison visit on his signing the statement.
Squyres attempted to bully Derek's girlfriend in Ohio into allowing him to search
her residence without a warrant and told her, "I am going to put this motherf**ker [Derek] away for the rest of his life.
I really don't care if he did it or not."
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The Judge- Judge William Rutherford
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Judge Rutherford was openly hostile towards the defense throughout the trial and
denied Derek the funds needed to hire an expert to rebut the Medical Examiner's testimony
about rape--the Commonwealth's only evidence on this count. Before becoming a Judge,
Rutherford was a Commonwealth prosecutor. He was notorious for seeking the death
penalty and an execution date for Joe Giarratano, who was conditionally pardoned by
Governor Wilder after evidence of his innocence emerged. It is rumored that several
Judicial Inquiry Review Commission complaints were lodged against Judge Rutherford (the
complaints are kept confidential), and he stopped hearing criminal cases after Derek
Barnabei's trial.
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Prosecution Witnesses
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Michael Baine |
A housemate and TKE fraternity member. On several occasions, Bain made rude
advances towards Sarah Wisnosky, the victim, and on one occasion she was forced to bite
and slap him in self-defense. At trial, Bain admitted that several nights before the
murder, he carried an intoxicated Sarah to his bedroom and spent the night with her.
On the day after the murder, Bain missed work for the first time at his job,
allegedly because he had to run some errands. His only alibi witness during the time
the prosecution alleges the murder occurred (12am-12:30am) was David Wirth.
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David Wirth- A Housemate |
Wirth recently pled guilty to aggravated assault for pulling a
shotgun on a woman who made the mistake of honking her car horn in front of his house.
He maintained weapons at the house where the murder occurred. In a
particularly grotesque exhibition, he built a bookcase out of the wood from the bed in
which Sarah was killed. Crime scene photos from the night of the murder show a claw
hammer and police-style billyclub in his room.
Sarah's injuries are consistent with the billyclub, but the police did not test it.
His only alibi witness during the time the prosecution alleges the murder occurred
(12am-12:30am) was Michael Bain.
You judge this man's character
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None of the occupants of the house were new to Virginia, as Derek was, instead
they have families and friends with businesses and social connection to the city of
Norfolk and its surroundings. |
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