Odell Barnes, Jr.

	DEFENDANT'S INFORMATION
Defendant's Name	Odell Barnes
Date of Birth	1971
Defendant's Race	Black
Criminal History	Aggravated robbery; rape, after the Bass crime
Execution Date	March 1, 2000
TDC Number
Age at time of crime	18
Age at execution	29
	THE CRIME
Date of Crime	November 29 or 30, 1989
County	Wichita
Victim(s)	Helen Bass
Race of Victim(s)	Black
Relationship to Defendant (if any)	Barnes' mother was friends with her Barnes had worked on her house previously Barnes had a consensual sexual relationship with her
Offense Alleged	Capital murder
Allegations	Raped, shot, stabbed, beat, robbed victim
	THE TRIAL
County where tried	Lubbock
Trial Judge	Temple Driver–Wichita Falls
Prosecutor(s)	Barry Macha and John Brasher—trial and post conviction
Defense Attorney(s)	Reginald Wilson and Marty Canedy–Wichita Falls
Plea	Not guilty
Racial Makeup of Jury
Convicted of (statute)	Capital murder (Rape, robbery and murder)
Confession?	No
Accomplice(s)	No
Eyewitness(es)	Robert Brooks–testified to seeing Barnes jump victim's fence one and one half hours before victim's return home from work Mary Barnes (Odell's mother) brought victim home from work
Scientific Evidence	Identification by prosecution of blood and semen–50% probability, 2 spots blood on coveralls Fingerprint on lamp
Jail House Snitch?	No
Defendant testimony	No
Exculpatory Evidence Offered?	Not at trial
Additional Punishment evidence by State	One of his unadjudicated rapes; prior criminal history
Mitigating Evidence by Defense	None presented at punishment phase: A few family members spoke for him. Psychological test done right before trial Psychologist never testified No mitigation with regard to family life Fights in family Heavy use of alcohol and fighting (Barnes had shot father while trying to protect mother)
Mental Retardation, Mental Illness, neurological damage?	No
Sentencing Date:	May 14, 1991
	DIRECT APPEAL COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
State's appellate attorney	Macha and Brasher
Defendant's appellate attorney	Wilson and Canedy
Appellate brief filed	Date
Grounds Raised	Challenged: Search warrants Admission of photos of victim Sufficiency of evidence to sustain conviction Failure of trial court to define reasonable doubt Evidence to suggest Barnes as future threat Jury selection Error in punishment charge Witness not on State's list allowed to testify
Date of opinion	1994/affirmed conviction (Barnes v. State 876 s.w. 3d316)
Opinion citation	Affirmed conviction
Cert to S. Ct?	October 1999
	STATE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
Writ Attorney	John Curry–Wichita Co. Public Defender
Appointed, retained or volunteer?	Appointed/filed Writ April 1997
Grounds Alleged	Denial of instruction on reasonable doubt Denial of reasonable appellate review by CCA Failure to inform jury that a single "no" vote on special issue would force court to give Barnes a Life sentence. Disproportionality on sentence Sentence-arbitrary and capricious Mitigation instruction inadequate Invalidity of search warrant Ineffective assistance of counsel
Writ Judge	Temple Driver
Date of Decision	December 1997
Decision	Denied
Cert to S. Ct.?	No
	NEW EVIDENCE OF INNOCENCE
Developed by:	Gary Taylor, Phil Wischkaemper, Mike Charlton, attorneys; and Lisa Milstein and Mike Ward, investigators
Presented to:
Summary:	Eyewitness to Barnes jumping fence one and one half hours before Ms. Bass returned home from work–sister was in car and he originally did not identify Barnes with certainty 1 of 2 spots of blood on coveralls had citric acid on them, probably planted (prosecutors went back and did DNA testing in 1997 and found the semen was Barnes' and the one blood spot belonged to the victim.) Attorneys for Barnes did a test and were able to date the semen as much earlier than day of murder and in doing the blood testing, they discovered citric acid in the spot that the State said was victim's blood Humphries sold a gun wrapped in a purple bandana to Harvey Neil Humphries was wearing coveralls with blood on them Williams, drug dealer and state's witness, made a deal for lesser charges on pending cases Humphries seen leaving victim's home night of murder by Homer Kines; lamp with Barnes' fingerprint had been in victim's home for some time Marquita Mackey, Williams' girlfriend, was overheard by Sandy Durant, a white woman in her cell, saying that Humphries, Williams, and a 3^rd person had come to her home the night of the murder covered in blood and demanding clean clothes. Humphries put a gun to her head and said he would kill her like he did Ms. Bass if she didn't get him the clothes Tammy Lewis gave sworn statement about deal Williams made with DA Rodney Brown saw Patrick Williams with bloody gun Bloody bandana was in Humphries' possession Humphries told Brown "I did something."

Odell Barnes, Jr. (TX)