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Court grants new hearing on ‘writ of actual innocence’

VIRGINIA BEACH—A former Navy SEAL trainee who has served 12 years in prison has been awarded a hearing on his claim that his co-defendant was solely responsible for murdering a Georgia college student vacationing in Virginia Beach.

Dustin Turner, 33, is seeking to get his murder conviction overturned on the strength of Billy Joe Brown’s 2003 admission that Brown acted alone in the 1995 slaying of Jennifer Evans outside an Oceanfront bar.

Under a 2004 law allowing inmates to present newly discovered evidence of innocence, the Virginia Court of Appeals granted Turner a hearing to determine the credibility of Brown’s confession – a step rarely taken by the courts. The hearing will be held in Virginia Beach Circuit Court next month.

In 1995, Brown and Turner were SEAL “swim buddies” nearing the end of their training at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. Under questioning by police, each blamed the other for the murder. Turner admitted helping cover up the crime and led police to Evans decomposed body in a Newport News park.

The two were convicted by separate juries in 1996. Turner was sentenced to 82 years in prison, Brown 72 years.

In a sworn statement in 2003, Brown took full responsibility for the slaying, saying he had become a Christian and “can no longer allow someone who is innocent to continue to pay for what I did.”

Turner petitioned then-Gov. Mark R. Warner for a pardon in 2004. Warner denied the petition.
At the time of the trials, Virginia imposed a 21-day limit on the introduction of new evidence after sentencing - the strictest such limit in the country. As DNA science evolved, the legislature carved out an exception for biological evidence in 2001.

In 2004, the exception was widened to include non-biological evidence. However, the law allowing prisoners to petition the appeals court for a “writ of actual innocence” sets a high standard: The new evidence must be so strong that “no rational trier of fact could have found proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

According to court records, 118 petitions for release had been filed through the end of 2007 and none had been granted. Only six reached the stage of an evidentiary hearing such as has been ordered in the Turner case.

Once the circuit court rules on the issue of Brown’s credibility, the case will return to the appeals court for disposition. The losing side could then appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.

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