Man jailed for life for murder released after ‘miscarriage of justice’
A 34-year-old man jailed for life for murder almost a decade ago has been released from prison after the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted there was a “miscarriage of justice” in his case.
Julian Washington left Westgate a free man on Friday, after the Crown decided not to contest an appeal against his conviction, which was due to take place before the Privy Council next month.
Mr Washington will not be retried for the 2012 murder of 24-year-old Stefan Burgess, fatally shot at a birthday party on The Glebe Road, Pembroke.
A British charity, the Death Penalty Project, took on Mr Washington’s case in 2021 and obtained fresh evidence to challenge the forensic evidence at his trial, on the basis that it was “flawed, imbalanced and wrongly implicated him”.
It is now calling for an “urgent inquiry into other possible miscarriages of justice” because the prosecution witness who gave that DNA evidence also testified in many other criminal cases.
Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said yesterday a review of more than 400 cases had already been done.
She told The Royal Gazette: “In light of the fresh evidence in the Washington appeal, I conceded that there had been a miscarriage of justice in his case with respect to the DNA evidence.
“The DNA evidence in that case was undermined by the lack of policies and procedures in place at the time for the specific typing and analysis that was relied upon at his trial.
“We no longer rely upon that specific type of DNA analysis and have not done so for some time.”
Ms Clarke said that as she was not personally involved in Mr Washington’s prosecution, she reviewed the evidence and concluded it was “not viable to proceed to retrial”.
She added: “Due to my concession, he was immediately released on bail, pending the final order of the Privy Council.
“I then directed that an immediate review commence of all matters which may be affected by the DNA issues raised in the Washington appeal.
“To date, over 400 matters have been reviewed. Three have been brought to my attention and none of those matters had been approved for prosecution.”
Parvais Jabbar, co-executive director of the Death Penalty Project, said in a press release: “The prosecution’s decision to concede the appeal and not seek a retrial is a complete vindication of the years Julian has maintained his innocence.
“However, whilst Julian is now free, this case raises wider concerns that expert evidence that is fundamentally flawed has been wrongfully used to secure convictions in potentially many cases.
“The Government should conduct an urgent inquiry into other possible miscarriages of justice which may have occurred because of the systemic failings this case has identified.”
Mr Washington was found guilty by a jury of the premeditated murder on January 8, 2012, of Mr Burgess, a father of one, as well as the attempted murder of Davano Jahkai Brimmer, using a firearm to commit an indictable offence, and handling ammunition.
He was told he must serve a minimum of 30 years before he could be considered for release on parole.
During an earlier court appearance, Mr Washington replied: “Absolutely, 100 per cent not guilty” as each of the charges was put to him.
In February 2023, he was granted leave to appeal to the Privy Council and his legal team was set to argue at a hearing on June 17 and 18 that the DNA evidence at his 2014 Supreme Court trial made his murder conviction unsafe.
Ms Clarke’s decision not to defend against that claim means Bermuda’s highest court of appeal will quash all the counts on the indictment.
Privy Council spokeswoman Maura Kalthoff confirmed that the appeal would no longer be heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
She said in an e-mail: “The Crown indicated that it no longer opposed the appeal and invited the board to allow the appeal, quash the appellant’s conviction, and order that there is to be no retrial of the appellant.
“The board made an order for Mr Washington’s release on bail on May 3.”
A Ministry of National Security spokesman said: “In carrying out the order of the court, Mr Washington has been released and is no longer in the custody of the Department of Corrections.”
It is understood Mr Washington is on unconditional bail and will appear at Court of Appeal on June 3, when his convictions will be formally quashed.
He is represented here by lawyer Vaughan Caines, of Forensica Legal, and in Britain by Icah Peart, KC, and Amanda Clift-Matthews, who are instructed by the Death Penalty Project at Simons Muirhead Burton LLP.
A hearing may still take place before the Privy Council to determine if a formal judgment on the matter is necessary.
Candy Zuleger, the forensics expert from Florida who gave evidence for the prosecution at Julian Washington’s trial, was given a contract worth almost $1 million in 2009 by the Bermuda Police Service to set up a DNA database.
She said the money would be used to purchase the hardware and software needed to create the database, as well as compile statistics on Bermuda's general population to use for analysis, and pay for the first three years of profiling work.
She appears to have last given evidence here as an expert prosecution witness in 2016.
The Death Penalty Project said the prosecution relied on the evidence of Candy Zuleger, of the now defunct Florida firm Trinity DNA Solutions, who told Julian Washington’s trial there was a 1-in-46 million chance that he was not a possible contributor to the DNA found on the bullet casings near the murder scene.
“This was inaccurate and should not have been placed before the jury,” said the charity in a press release.
It said it relied on the expert opinion of Dan Krane, professor of biological sciences at Wright State University in Ohio, who concluded that it would have been more appropriate to characterise the testing of the casing as “inconclusive” and exclude the evidence against Mr Washington entirely.
Dr Krane found significant errors in the methodology used and in the calculation and explanation of the statistical weight attached to the DNA evidence in Mr Washington’s case.
Dr Krane said: “The errors made by Trinity DNA Solutions were similar to those that inspired the creation of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which found that DNA test conclusions needed to be re-evaluated for hundreds of cases.
“Will there be a similar review of cases in the jurisdictions where Trinity DNA Solutions has provided evidence?”
The Death Penalty Project said the prosecution in Mr Washington’s case was forced to “reconsider their position in light of the expert evidence presented, leading to [the] decision to immediately release Julian on unconditional bail until the final order quashing his conviction is delivered”.
The Royal Gazette understands that the evidence Ms Zuleger provided was to do with composite DNA analysis.
The Crown now accepts that her laboratory did not have the policies in place for that specific type of analysis.
Trinity DNA Solutions was used regularly in criminal prosecutions in Bermuda, though not in recent years.
The Death Penalty Project said: “The same forensic laboratory has also worked with prosecutors in the Bahamas and the United States, raising alarm of possible widespread miscarriages of justice.”
According to the charity, Trinity DNA Solutions folded in 2018.
It wasn’t possible to reach Ms Zuleger yesterday.
The company’s website, which still exists, states: “DNA analysis is serious. There is a lot on the line in every case; no detail is trivial.
“Scientific and professional integrity is at the heart [of] Trinity DNA Solutions's philosophy. We put our integrity on the line with every case.”
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