California Innocence Project presents final arguments Nov. 1 in Los Angeles

SAN DIEGO , Oct. 18, 2006 – More than 20 years ago, Timothy Atkins was convicted of murder after he was identified by a frightened woman who witnessed her husband being shot in the chest during an attempted carjacking. Now California Innocence Project attorneys are back in court, claiming new evidence proves this identification was faulty and Atkins is innocent.

The crime occurred in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 1985, when Maria and Vincente Gonzalez were picking up their children from a babysitter.  Two young African-American males approached the Gonzalez’s car from behind and pointed guns at the couple.  Mr. Gonzalez was shot in the chest by one assailant and the second assailant took a necklace from Mrs. Gonzalez.

The police were led to Atkins when a woman named Denise Powell told police that Atkins had confessed to being an accomplice in the killing.

Recently, in a Los Angeles courtroom, Denise Powell told a different story.  She testified in a habeas action brought by the California Innocence Project of California Western School of Law that she fabricated the story of Atkins’ confession and that she has had trouble living with that lie.

“Timothy Atkins would not have been convicted without Denise Powell’s testimony,” states California Western Professor Justin Brooks, director of the California Innocence Project and Atkins’ lead attorney.  “There was no physical evidence, confession, or weapon linking him to the crime.”

The courtroom where she testified in the habeas action is presided over by Judge Michael Tynan, the original trial judge in the case.  The original defense attorney, David Wesley, also appeared to testify, but in the time since the trial, he has gone on to become a presiding judge in Los Angeles. 

Judge Wesley was actually called as a witness for the prosecution, but when he took the stand in September he testified to Atkins innocence.  “Mr. Atkins case was one of those cases you remember for a long time,” Wesley said.  “I had some real doubts about whether he was guilty or not.  And in fact, when I represented him, I was convinced that he was not guilty.  And that doubt stayed with me.”

The Innocence Project is also challenging the validity of the identification made by Mrs. Gonzalez.  “This was a highly suggestive, cross-racial identification, in a situation where the person saw the attacker for less than a minute on a dark street,” says Brooks.  “Studies over the past 20 years have shown that these types of identifications are not valid.”

Timothy Atkins was convicted of one count of murder and two counts of robbery on July 28, 1987.  He is currently serving a sentence of 32 years to life.  Final arguments will be heard in the evidentiary hearing on Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m. in Judge Tynan’s courtroom in Los Angeles.  The Innocence Project will argue for the reversal of Atkins’ conviction.

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ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA INNOCENCE PROJECT – California Western School of Law is home to the California and Hawaii Innocence Projects. Students at California Western work to free wrongfully convicted inmates by reviewing more than 1,000 claims of innocence each year, and focusing on cases where there is evidence of actual innocence. Innocence Project attorneys and students then investigate cases by tracking down and re-interviewing witnesses, examining new evidence, filling motions, securing expert witnesses, and advocating for their clients during evidentiary hearings and trials. Four California Innocence Project clients have been released since the project’s inception in 2000.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA WESTERN SCHOOL OF LAW – California Western School of Law is the independent, ABA/AALS-accredited San Diego law school that advances multi-dimensional lawyering by educating lawyers-to-be as creative problem solvers and principled advocates who frame the practice of law as a helping, collaborative profession.  California Western is home to several innovative centers and institutes including the California Innocence Project, the Center for Creative Problem Solving, the Institute of Health Law Studies, and the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy.  In addition to a J.D. program, the law school offers several dual degree programs in conjunction with local universities; an LL.M. in Federal Criminal Law; and an M.C.L./LL.M. for foreign law graduates.