More than a year after University student Phillip Gillins died, cracking his head on pavement in a fall after a punch to the face, the Lane County Circuit Court decided not to hear a new trial for the man convicted of throwing the punch – despite evidence that he didn’t do it, his lawyer said.
Early in the morning of June 10, 2005, Darrell Sky Walker left Taylor’s Bar and Grille on East 13th Ave. and, along with two friends of his, confronted a group of three men who allegedly made a racist remark while passing by. The situation got worse, and Gillins ended up with injuries that led to his death two days later.
This past April a jury convicted Walker of throwing the punch that knocked out Gillins on his feet, sentencing him to six years in prison. His attorney, Dan Goff, requested a new trial because Ryan Joyce, a friend of Walkers who was involved in the confrontation, was willing to testify that another man, Bryan “JD” Beall punched Gillins, provided that the prosecution granted him immunity.
Both Beall and Joyce invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
“The prosecution refused to grant the witness immunity, so he refused to testify,” Goff said.
When asked why the prosecution refused to grant immunity, Goff said “they already had a conviction on our guy.”
The prosecution did not grant immunity and neither did Judge Foote, so Walker is now waiting in the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville until the state decides what prison will be his home for the next six years. Unless, that is, the Oregon Court of Appeals hears his case.
But the Lane County prosecutor said that the case should be considered closed.
“Justice was done,” Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad said. “The jury heard all the facts and made a decision based on those facts. That’s what juries do.”
Harcleroad said that while the justice system has made mistakes in the past, the D.A.’s office strives to correct those mistakes, citing a case in which two Oregon men convicted of murder had their convictions overturned when new evidence came to light.
“No prosecutor worth his or her salt ever want to convict anyone who’s not guilty,” he said. “It’s not what we’re about.”
“Mistakes were not made,” Harcleroad said.
Harcleroad also said the jury had already heard testimony that said another man, Bryan “J.D.” Beall actually threw the punch, convicted Walker anyway because more damning testimony was presented.
Goff said that the new evidence would clear Walker.
Furthermore, he said the case represents a classic
conflict between the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process and the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination – with the state holding the trump card.
“When a jury doesn’t hear all the testimony that’s available I don’t think that’s a fair trial.”
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