Leon Jermain Winston

Background

Leon Jermain Winston was a male identified as Black. He was an inmate on Virginia’s death row and his case was under appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Winston was 24 at the time of the September 17, 2005 discussion of DNA lab review findings.

In the early morning of April 19, 2002, Anthony Robinson and his pregnant wife Ronda were shot in their home on Sussex Street while their two daughters hid in the closet. Ronda Robinson was six months pregnant at the time of the murders, and her 4- and 8-year-old daughters watched her die.

Winston admitted participating in the attempted robbery of Rhonda and Anthony Robinson, but he said an accomplice shot the couple. His mother had abused alcohol and drugs while pregnant with him, and Winston’s attorneys presented extensive mitigating evidence during the penalty phase.

The offence

During the murders at the Robinson home, Niesha Whitehead, the 8-year-old daughter, testified in court that she saw two black intruders outside her second-floor bedroom, which she shared with her younger sister. She testified that she saw one of the men take her stepfather downstairs. She said she noticed the man had a tattoo that looked like a “big dog” and heard shots from below. She also testified that the man later came upstairs and that she saw him shoot her mom.

Investigation

A cab driver testified that on the night of the murders, he drove two black men to several homes in the area and saw them check the windows. The driver identified one of the men as Kevin Eugene Brown and identified one of the homes on Sussex Street.

A national team of scientists later reviewed criminal cases handled by the state DNA lab. Their review included the Winston case and found improper interpretation of biological evidence used in the trial.

In almost a year after Winston’s sentencing, a review of DNA by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science ordered by Gov. Mark Warner found an error in the testing of a glove presented as evidence during trial. DNA evidence for the murder weapon was free of any errors.

The national team’s report said that Nicole E. Harold, an analyst in the state’s Roanoke regional lab, disregarded test results that conflicted with her hypothesis that a glove contained DNA from all three men suspected in a 2002 robbery that led to a double slaying. The experts also said Harold failed to re-test the glove samples when the results were incomplete.

The scientists agreed with Harold’s conclusion that the three men, including Winston, could not be eliminated as possible sources of DNA on the glove, but they said Harold was wrong to say in lab reports and during trial testimony that the sample was at least 1.1 billion times more likely to have come from Winston and his accomplices than from three random individuals.

Trial

Winston’s conviction in the capital murder case was decided by a jury. In June 2003, a jury convicted Winston of capital murder. During the penalty phase, the jury recommended that he be sentenced to death.

Circuit Judge Mosby Perrow III followed the jury’s recommendation and formally sentenced Winston to death on January 29, 2004.

The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the capital murder conviction and sentencing on Nov. 5, 2004.

Defense attorney Leigh Drewry, who represented Winston at trial, commented on the DNA lab review findings:

“If somebody is going to take a man’s life, they need to do it without making mistakes, and they made a mistake here,” Drewry said. “People need to be aware the science of DNA is only as good as the people doing it.”

The Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney William Petty responded to the DNA lab error discussion:

Petty said the error does not absolve Winston. He said the scientists found no fault with test results showing Winston’s DNA on the murder weapon.

A witness-related element of the conviction was also described: much of the conviction rested on a witness who testified that Winston had given him the gun after the murder.

Betty Layne DesPortes, chairwoman of the jurisprudence section of the American Academy of Forensic Science, said:

while the report states no other major errors were detected, recommendations made by the scientists imply that they found other mistakes.

Sentencing

In the penalty phase in June 2003, the jury recommended the death sentence for Winston after convicting him of capital murder.

On January 29, 2004, Circuit Judge Mosby Perrow III formally sentenced Winston to death.

Appeals

5, 2004.

Winston’s case was under appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A DNA review discussion noted that Winston’s case was under appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that he was a Virginia death-row inmate at the time.

Outcome

A national team of scientists later concluded there were no procedural errors that “substantially affected the integrity of the results,” and they reported improper interpretation of biological evidence used in the Winston case related to glove testing and analysis.

The review did not find fault with test results showing Winston’s DNA on the murder weapon.

Ralph Keaton, executive director of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board, said:

“The report offers no basis for continuing penalties imposed on analyst Jeffrey D. Ban.”

The report also included recommendations regarding lab practices:

• the lab was to adopt better quality-assurance measures for controls that must be performed with each DNA test;
• lab leaders were to require documentation whenever a lab analyst chooses to disregard some test results in reaching conclusions about DNA samples.

Aftermath

Gov. Mark Warner ordered a comprehensive examination of lab procedures after an independent audit found that lab scientists had twice botched DNA tests in a 1982 rape-murder case. Auditors also rebuked lab staffers for failing to catch errors in an internal investigation of those tests last year.

Warner welcomed the report as a positive one for the lab. In a written statement, he said:

“This lab has an international reputation as a leader in fighting crime … and I think this review bolsters that reputation and serves as a reaffirmation of the integrity with which our scientists do this work.”

The report leader of an organization that audits crime labs said the review complied with a request for a broader examination of Virginia’s DNA testing, and the review team was selected to examine 123 criminal cases that involved small amounts of DNA.

Analyst Jeffrey D. Ban was mentioned in connection with penalties following the spring audit: Ban was ordered to cease low-level DNA tests and was removed from a supervisory role after the spring audit found fault with his work on the Earl Washington Jr. case. Earl Washington Jr. had spent nearly 18 years in prison for the rape and murder of a Culpeper woman before being pardoned in 2000.

Other details

• Anthony Robinson was shot in his home on Sussex Street, and his pregnant wife Ronda Robinson was also shot.
• Their two daughters hid in the closet during the shootings.
• Niesha Whitehead testified about seeing intruders, hearing shots, and seeing a man come upstairs and shoot her mom.
• A cab driver testified about driving two black men to several homes, checking windows, and identifying Kevin Eugene Brown and a Sussex Street home.
• Kevin Eugene Brown was charged with capital murder but was only convicted of second-degree murder and was formally sentenced to 43 years in prison on November 8, 2003.
• The DNA lab review narrative included a discussion of improper conclusions reached in the Winston case by Nicole E. Harold.
• State DNA lab review found an error in testing of a glove presented as evidence during trial, while DNA evidence for the murder weapon was free of any errors.
• A State DNA lab review was discussed in relation to a report published with scientists’ findings and recommendations, described in a report dated September 17, 2005.