Norfolk Four

The Norfolk Four are Derek Tice, Danial Williams, Joseph J. Dick Jr. and Eric C. Wilson. They are four of the five men convicted in the brutal rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko in 1997 in Norfolk, Virginia. The convictions of the four were largely based on confessions made by the men, which they maintain were coerced. The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project considers this a miscarriage of justice.^[1] Moore-Bosko's parents, however, continue to believe that all those convicted were participants in the crime.^[2] Tice, Williams and Dick either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of the murder, and were sentenced to one or more life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole. Wilson was convicted of rape and sentenced to 8½ years in prison. Three other men, Geoffrey A. Farris, John E. Danser and Richard D. Pauley, Jr., were also initially charged with the crime, but their charges were later dropped. The supporters of the Norfolk Four have offered evidence that purports to prove they are innocent, with no known involvement or connections to the incident.^[3]

The fifth man, Omar Ballard, was also convicted in the crime, and was sentenced to 100 years in prison, 59 of which were suspended. He is the only man whose DNA matches that found at the scene, and his confession states that he committed the crime by himself, with none of the other men involved. Forensic evidence is consistent with his story that there were no other participants.

The victim

Michelle "Shelley" Bosko was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a sheltered home, the oldest of three children. In April 1997, she left home and told her parents that she was moving in with a girlfriend, but in fact she had secretly married William Bosko. In a 2008 interview, her parents (Carol and John Moore) believed that the four sailors were guilty. "I can't see how anyone is confessing to this, of all things, murder, unless they did it . . . ," said Carol Moore.^[2]

The case

On July 8, 1997, Bill Bosko came home from a military assignment to find his wife, then 18, murdered. At the time it was noted that there were no signs of a break-in or a struggle inside the tiny apartment. As the investigation started, detective Robert Glenn Ford questioned residents of Moore-Bosko's development. Police attention quickly focused on Danial Williams. Williams lived in an apartment near Bosko's with his wife and their roommate Joe Dick. According to Tamika Taylor, a friend of Moore-Bosko's, Williams was "obsessed" with the murdered woman. Detective Ford interrogated both Williams and Dick and obtained confessions from them but their confessions were inconsistent both with each other and with the evidence. Williams claimed to have acted alone while Dick said that he and Williams had committed the crime together. Dick claimed to have committed the crime at a time that the police knew the victim to be elsewhere. In addition, naval logs are said to have shown that Dick was on duty on the USS Saipan at the time of the murder. The chief petty officer that Dick reported to, who had taken special interest in Dick due to what he saw as the man's diminished mental capacity, stated that it would have been nearly impossible for Dick to have left the ship, committed a murder and returned without being discovered by security. Both men also claimed to have committed violent attacks or sexual assaults on the victim which were inconsistent with the physical evidence. ^[4]

The theory that a number of men had committed the crime together also failed to align with the evidence of the case. For example, the apartment showed no signs of being broken into and was incredibly neat and tidy, so much so that when Bosko had arrived home he initially thought his wife was not there. It seemed unlikely^{[says who?]} that a group of four or five men, or the seven or eight who the police ultimately asserted had committed the crime, could have conducted a violent physical and sexual assault in the small apartment without disturbing anything. In addition, the stab wounds to the victim were clustered closely together and were all of similar depth. This pattern was consistent with one assailant stabbing Moore-Bosko several times but was inconsistent with the police theory of the crime which stated that a large group of men took turns stabbing her. These facts were problematic because the number of conspirators in the police theory continued to grow. Originally they believed that only Williams and Dick had committed the crime. However, when the DNA evidence did not match either man, the police got Dick to name Eric Wilson as a co-conspirator. However, the DNA did not match Wilson either. This time Dick indicated that a fourth man, whom he called "George" but whom he identified from photographs as Derek Tice, was also involved. Tice confessed and implicated three more men in the crime, and insisted that the group had broken into the apartment, further contradicting the physical evidence. None of the men who the police accused of the crime were a match for the DNA evidence. The three other men named by Tice were never charged in part because they all had air-tight alibis. One had an ATM receipt showing he had made a withdrawal 10 minutes after the crime was committed, over 300 miles away in Pennsylvania. Another had phone and internet records showing that he was communicating with his girlfriend over several hours at the time the crime was committed. ^[5]

A few years later, a woman who had been corresponding with Omar Ballard, who had a long criminal record and was serving time for an unrelated offense, gave the police a threatening letter Ballard had given her. In the letter Ballard confessed to murdering Moore-Bosko. When Ballard's DNA was tested it was found to match the evidence from the scene. Upon being questioned by the police, Ballard immediately confessed to the murder, gave an accurate description of the physical evidence, and gave a time frame for the crime which fit with that established by other witnesses. Ballard also insisted that he had committed the crime alone, stating that "them four people that opened their mouths is stupid." Afterwards it was revealed that Tamika Taylor, the friend of Moore-Bosko's who had urged them to investigate Danial Williams, had also urged them to investigate Ballard, who had socialized with her and the Boskos and who Taylor knew had a history of violence against women. Given the DNA match and the confession, the police incorporated Ballard into their theory of the crime but insisted that the other men they had charged had also been involved, insisting that Ballard refused to name his accomplices for fear of being labeled a "snitch" and that the other men, who had been willing to implicate others in the crime, were afraid of Ballard and thus refused to implicate him.^[6]

The Norfolk Four have alleged that their confessions – which were either signed or taped, and were the sole basis for their convictions – were coerced out of them with threats that included that they would receive the death penalty if they did not plead guilty. The lead detective in charge of the interrogations (Ford) had been involved in a similar case known as the Lafayette Grill case in 1990. In that case, allegations were made against Ford in extracting false confessions.^[7]

As a result of their confessions and pleas, their convictions were upheld in multiple appeals, regardless of the lack of physical evidence tying them to the crime, the forensic evidence implicating Ballard, and Ballard's confession that he committed the crime alone.

William Bosko was not considered a suspect in the case.

Fighting the verdicts

On June 7, 2001, a documentary on the case aired on The Learning Channel's Medical Detectives.^[8] It has also been shown as an episode of Forensic Files.

Richard Leo, who appeared in the documentary, co-authored a book about the case with writer Tom Wells. Called The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four, it was released in November 2008.^[9]

Eleven of the jurors who initially convicted the alleged murderers in the case have stated in affidavits that they now believe those convicted were innocent.^[10]

In 2008, a spokesman for 30 retired FBI agents said that, "The Norfolk Four are innocent" and called for "Governor Kaine to grant them immediate pardons."^[11]

Current status

In 2005, attorneys representing defendants Dick, Williams and Tice petitioned for clemency from Virginia governor Mark Warner. Warner did not rule on the petition, and it was considered by subsequent Virginia governor Tim Kaine. On August 6, 2009, Kaine granted a conditional pardon to the three men. Although the men were released from prison on August 7, 2009, the partial pardon did not erase their convictions. ^[12]

In September 2006, Wilson was released after serving his full sentence. However, he is still appealing to have his conviction reversed. On November 27, 2006, a circuit court overturned the conviction of Tice on constitutional grounds.^[13] Subsequently, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated the convictions. Tice filed a petition for habeas corpus with a United States District Court, and on September 14, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Williams vacated Tice's murder and rape convictions, on the ground that Tice had been denied his constitutional right to effective counsel.^[14] On November 19, 2009, Judge Williams ruled that prosecutors can retry Tice. On April 20, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Judge Williams' rulings vacating Tice's convictions.^{[15] [16]}

Retired Norfolk Detective Robert Glenn Ford, chief investigator for the case against the Norfolk Four, who obtained many of the confessions from the defendants, was indicted in May 2010 on unrelated extortion charges of accepting payments from criminal suspects in return for favorable treatment.^[17] He was found guilty of two of the four counts in October 2010 and was sentenced in February 2011 to twelve and a half years.^[18][19] Following Ford's conviction, attorneys for the Norfolk Four called for full exoneration of their clients.^[20]

Author John Grisham is reportedly writing a screenplay about the case.^[21]

The Norfolk Four story was featured in a Frontline documentary titled The Confessions that aired originally on PBS on November 9, 2010.^[22]

Derek Tice, who was convicted of the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko, is officially a free man after Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Charles Poston dropped two felony charges against him as recommended by special prosecutor D.J. Hansen, who originally tried the case. ^[23]

See also

• False confession
• Innocence Project
• Richard Ofshe

References

1. ^ http://www.exonerate.org/2009/norfolk-four/
2. ^ ^{a b} Jackman, Tom (December 15, 2008). "Clemency Campaign Renews Misery". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/14/AR2008121402100.html. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
3. ^ Dereck Tice
4. ^ Berlow, Alan (August 19, 2007). "What Happened in Norfolk". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/magazine/19Norfolk-t.html. 
5. ^ Berlow, Alan (August 19, 2007). "What Happened in Norfolk". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/magazine/19Norfolk-t.html. 
6. ^ Berlow, Alan (August 19, 2007). "What Happened in Norfolk". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/magazine/19Norfolk-t.html. 
7. ^ www.norfolkfour.com
8. ^ Volume 1 Issue 8
9. ^ Web page for "The Wrong Guys", a book about the case
10. ^ Jackman, Tom (January 6, 2006). "Jurors Back Clemency for 'Norfolk 4'". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010502133.html. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
11. ^ Urbina, Ian (2008-11-10). "Retired F.B.I. Agents Join Cause of 4 Sailors". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/11norfolk.html. Retrieved 2010-11-10. 
12. ^ http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wavy_norf_norfolk_four_update_20090806
13. ^ "Press Room - Virginia Circuit Court Judge Overturns Derek Tice Conviction". The Justice Project. 30 November 2006. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070712093802/http://www.thejusticeproject.org/press/releases/virginia-circuit-court-judge.html. 
14. ^ http://www.claytonnews-star.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=106&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=1069&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2111&hn=claytonnews-star&he=.com
15. ^ http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/098245.P.pdf
16. ^ Virginia: Court Upholds Ruling for Ex-Sailor
17. ^ McGlone, Tim (2010-05-11). "Norfolk ex-detective accused of taking money from suspects". The Virginian-Pilot (Landmark Media Enterprises L.L.C.). http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/norfolk-exdetective-accused-taking-money-suspects?cid=omc. Retrieved 2010-11-10. 
18. ^ "The Confessions: Introduction". Frontline. November 9, 2010. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-confessions/etc/introduction.html. Retrieved 10 November 2010. 
19. ^ Dana Hedgpeth (February 25, 2011) [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/dana-hedgpeth/former-detective-in-norfolk-4.html Prison for 'Norfolk 4' detective, Washington Post.
20. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina (November 5, 2010). "Officer’s Extortion Conviction Prompts Calls for Full Exoneration of ‘Norfolk Four’". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/us/06norfolk.html. 
21. ^ Jackman, Tom (July 8, 2009). "John Grisham to Write a Screenplay About the 'Norfolk Four' Case". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/07/AR2009070702604.html. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
22. ^ See The Confessions to view the documentary online.
23. ^ "The Confessions: One of the "Norfolk Four" Cleared of Rape/Murder Charges". http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/08/the-confessions-one-of-the-norfolk-four-cleared-of-rapemurder-charges.html. 

External links

• Up to date information of the Norfolk 4 case
• The Innocence Project home page
• Time Magazine, Thursday, November 30, 2006, Throwing Out a Murder Confession — and Conviction — in Virginia
• The New York Times, Sunday, August 19, 2007, What Happened In Norfolk
• The New York Times, Monday, November 10, 2008, Retired F.B.I. Agents Join Cause of 4 Sailors
• The Confessions at Frontline (U.S. TV series) webpage on PBS website