Innocence claim rejected in VB slaying

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Virginia Court of Appeals rejected a former Navy SEAL trainee's claim of innocence in the abduction and murder of a Georgia college student Tuesday, ruling that another man's confession failed to prove that Dustin Turner was not also involved.

The 8-1 ruling reversed a decision by a three-judge panel of the same court, which ruled last August that Turner should be exonerated based on Billy Joe Brown's statement that he alone killed Jennifer Evans outside a Virginia Beach nightclub in 1995. Turner's lawyer, David Hargett, said he will appeal Tuesday's decision to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Turner was the first person convicted of murder in Virginia to be granted a "writ of actual innocence" under a 2004 law allowing inmates to present new evidence other than DNA after sentencing. The full appeals court, however, said Turner failed to show that no rational judge or jury could have convicted Turner had the new evidence been presented at trial.

Evans' mother, Delores Evans of Tucker, Ga., said she was pleased with the ruling, which came two days after the 15th anniversary of the day her daughter's body was found in a Newport News park. However, her happiness was tempered by the knowledge that another court battle lies ahead.

"There's just no rest," she said. "God has helped heal my broken heart, but there will always be that empty spot. It keeps getting reopened -- the wound does -- every time one of these court appeals comes up."

Hargett said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the ruling but that he looked forward to taking the case to the Virginia Supreme Court. He said he expected the court to hear the case in November or January.

Turner's mother, Linda Summitt, said she was devastated by the ruling and suggested the appeals court is deliberately trying to set a high bar for anyone to be exonerated under the 2004 actual innocence law.

Turner, of Bloomington, Ind., is serving an 82-year prison term for the slaying of Jennifer Evans, a 21-year-old Emory University premed student who was vacationing in Virginia Beach. Turner claims that Evans died instantly when Brown, another Navy SEAL trainee from Dayton, Ohio, strangled her as the three sat in Turner's car.

In Tuesday's ruling, the appeals court majority said there was sufficient evidence to prove that Turner deceived Evans into leaving the bar with the intent to have sex with her against her will. A witness had testified that Turner said he and Brown were going to have "a threesome" with Evans. Her friends testified that Evans would not have been willing.

Under state law, a person can be convicted of murder if he participates in an abduction that leads to death, even if he did not actively participate in the killing.

Judge Larry G. Elder wrote in a dissent that there was no evidence Turner would have sexually assaulted Evans had she resisted his advances.

"In sum, the majority makes a fatal leap in logic from Turner's possible desire to engage in sexual intercourse to his alleged intent to defile Evans," Elder wrote.

Turner has admitted helping Brown dispose of Evans' body, which Hargett says makes his client guilty of nothing more than being an accessory after the fact -- a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

Brown, who is serving 72 years, testified at his trial that Evans was already dead when he got into the car. He now says he lied because he was angry with Turner for cooperating with authorities.

Click here to read the Virginia Court of Appeals decision.