Odell Barnes (criminal)

Odell Barnes, Jr.
Born	March 22, 1968(1968-03-22) Wichita County, Texas
Died	March 1, 2000(2000-03-01) (aged 31) Huntsville, Texas
Cause	Judicial execution by lethal injection
Conviction(s)	First degree murder
Occupation	Construction worker

Odell Barnes, Jr. (March 22, 1968 – March 1, 2000) was a Texas man convicted of the 1989 murder of Helen Bass. During the later stages of Barnes' legal appeals, human rights groups and anti-death penalty advocates raised questions about Barnes' murder conviction, leading to international media attention and diplomatic protests from the government of France. Barnes was executed on March 1, 2000.

Murder and conviction

The murder occurred on November 29, 1989 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Bass, 42, was surprised by Barnes, who had broken into her home while she was at work, then robbed, beaten, stabbed, and killed by a gunshot to the head. She may have also been raped.

Barnes's conviction was based on forensic evidence and witness testimony placing him at the crime scene. His fingerprints were on a bedside lamp that was used to bludgeon Bass, traces of his semen were present at the scene, and two patches of blood on his clothing were confirmed by DNA analysis to have been hers. Prosecution witnesses described seeing Barnes trespassing in Bass's yard about one hour before she returned from work. When arrested, he was in possession of a .32 caliber pistol belonging to Bass. Barnes had previously done construction work on Bass's house.

Barnes had a prior record for two robberies. He had been unable to afford his own lawyers and the Wichita County Public Defender's office was not equipped to handle his case, so two local attorneys were appointed for him. Their budget and preparation was minimal, no defense investigation was conducted, and no forensic tests were ordered by the defense. Barnes was convicted by the jury after three hours of deliberation and sentenced to death shortly after. After his murder conviction he was also tried and convicted for two rapes, robberies and assaults for which he confessed. On Nov. 15 1989, 15 days before the murder, he beat and attempted to rape a pregnant woman. (The additional convictions were meant to ensure Barnes would stay in prison without possibility of parole even if his death sentence was later overturned.)

Appeals process

During Barnes' appeals process, two new attorneys were appointed to his case by a Federal court. European anti-death penalty activists contributed some $16,000 to his defense fund, and the new lawyers paid for forensic tests out of their own pocket. The new defense team uncovered deficiencies in the forensic evidence, serious errors and oversights by the original defense team, and problems with the credibility of prosecution witnesses.

• Barnes claimed at trial that he had never had sexual contact, consensual or forced, with Bass. DNA testing some years after the trial showed that the semen on her corpse was his.^{[citation needed]} Barnes then claimed that he and Bass had an existing sexual relationship before the crime but on the advice of his original defense team he did not tell the jury.
• At trial, the jury had heard that a brand new lamp was found with Barnes' fingerprints on it. The new defense investigation found that the lamp had not been new, and that Barnes had visited Bass' house after she had bought it.
• The bloodstains found on Barnes' clothing, and confirmed by DNA to have been Bass's blood, were very small. This was inconsistent with the extremely violent nature of the killing and the amount of blood found at the scene. Tests revealed that the bloodstains contained an extremely high level of citric acid, which is used as a preservative in crime labs.
• The prosecution witness who identified Barnes trespassing at Bass's residence had given inconsistent testimony on different occasions, he described seeing Barnes some 45 minutes after Bass had already returned home.

International attention

Barnes was executed on March 1, 2000. For his last meal, he requested "Justice, Equality, World Peace". His final statement was:

“

I'd like to send great love to all my family members, my supporters, my attorneys. They have all supported me throughout this. I thank you for proving my innocence, although it has not been acknowledged by the courts. May you continue in the struggle and may you change all that's being done here today and in the past. Life has not been that good to me, but I believe that now, after meeting so many people who support me in this, that all things will come to an end, and may this be fruit of better judgements for the future. That's all I have to say.

”

See also

• List of individuals executed in Texas
• Capital punishment in Texas
• Capital punishment in the United States

References

• Justice Denied
• Houston Press
• Offender Information. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
• Last Statement. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
• Final Meal Requests. Texas Department of Criminal Justice (2003-09-12). Archived from the original on 2003-12-02. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
• Odell Barnes, Jr.. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.

Persondata
Name	Barnes, Odell
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 22, 1968
Place of birth	Wichita County, Texas
Date of death	March 1, 2000
Place of death	Huntsville, Texas