DNA test could alter man’s life sentence – Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

By Gabrielle Porter Saturday, July 1, 2017

New DNA testing is underway in a decades-old murder case after post-conviction lawyers for Verle James Mangum won the right to re-examine evidence used at his 2003 murder trial.

Mangum was convicted at trial of bludgeoning to death Clifton resident Janet Davis, 42, and her 11-year-old daughter, Jennifer, in 1996. He was 17 at the time of the murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Garfield County District Judge James Boyd ruled in November to order new testing after a series of arguments from defense attorneys Erin Wilson of Steamboat Springs and Kathleen McGuire of Denver. Prosecutors opposed the move.

We resisted (new testing), and in large part we did that because the conviction itself really wasnt based on DNA, said Chief Deputy District Attorney David Waite, adding that Mangums conviction was based on his own confession to two friends.

Wilson and McGuire wrote in motions filed with Boyd that Mangums confession was unreliable.

The statements made by Mr. Mangum were and are wholly unreliable given their content and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Mangums development and life experiences at the time the statements were made. Yet nothing related to Mr. Mangums development or life circumstances was ever investigated by his trial counsel or presented to the jury, the motion said. ... Expert testimony can and would explain how a young person could do what is almost unthinkable in the mind of an adult falsely confess to committing two murders (to friends).

Wilson and McGuire also argued that new and better technology is now available to test and retest certain pieces of evidence, and that Mangums trial lawyers mistakenly believed his DNA had been found on a comforter in Davis home.

Waite said that Boyd ultimately, I think in an abundance of caution, granted their motion for post-conviction DNA testing.

Wilson and McGuire declined to speak publicly about the case.

The newly ordered DNA testing is only the latest chapter in Mangums long and labyrinthine case.

Davis and her daughter Jennifer were found dead in their Clifton home on Feb. 15, 1996. Prosecutors initially filed murder charges against Davis husband, Jennifers father, which they dropped in 1997.

Mangum was arrested only after confessing to the crime. Despite the confession, he pleaded not guilty and was convicted by a jury in 2003.

Prosecutors asserted at trial that Mangum killed Davis after she caught him having sex with her young daughter while high on methamphetamine. He killed Jennifer as a witness, they said.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In the years after Mangums conviction, Colorado lawmakers took steps to prevent life sentences for juveniles with the passage of a 2006 law. The law also established that juveniles convicted of murder must be considered for parole after serving 40 years in prison; however, it was not made retroactive after family members of victims raised concerns, so Mangum was not considered for re-sentencing.

The Colorado Court of Appeals in 2007 affirmed Mangums Mesa County trial convictions.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court decided life sentences without the possibility for parole were unconstitutional for juveniles, even in cases where the juvenile is convicted as an adult.

In 2016, the high court added to that ruling, deciding that it should be applied to inmates who were sentenced before the 2012 decision, effectively tossing Mangums life sentence.

Wilson and McGuire wrote in motions that the re-sentencing issue is on hold until the DNA testing is complete.

Also still pending is a motion Mangum has made asserting that his attorneys including Richard Gurley, now a Mesa County district judge provided ineffective counsel during his first trial. Mangums case has been moved to Garfield County.

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DNA test could alter man's life sentence - Grand Junction Daily Sentinel