KINGWOOD – An appeal hearing for convicted murderer Richard Knotts followed the withdrawal of a plea agreement Monday.
At the hearing in Preston Circuit Court, Knotts, 58, continued to appeal, based on DNA evidence. In 1990 he was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Robert Barlow Jr. and has been in prison since then.
His attorney, Jeremy Cooper, said blood at the scene was not that of his client and questioned the legality of Prosecuting Attorney Melvin Snyder withdrawing a plea agreement.
“I filed a letter with the court the day after it was offered,” Snyder said. “I can withdraw the agreement anytime before the court makes its decision.” Snyder said he withdrew the agreement because he spoke with the victim’s family, who provided information that was not previously presented to the court.
Cooper told the court the state stipulated the DNA found was not his client’s. “I believe this is legal grounds to vacate the conviction,” he said.
“How do you get around the fact the family has provided new evidence?” Senior Status Judge Larry Starcher asked.
At a hearing last year, Knotts asked that Preston Circuit Judge Steve Shaffer be replaced on the case. Shaffer said he attended elementary or junior high with the victim and Barlow’s father used to cut firewood for Shaffer.
Cooper said the new evidence was not yet recorded. “However, a defendant is allowed a new trial based on new evidence whether the evidence will end in a new verdict,” he said.
“I disagree,” Snyder said citing a North Carolina case. “The prosecutor made a plea agreement and withdrew it even after the defense agreed. It had not been approved by the court. That’s the final step. Until then the prosecutor has a right to withdraw. The new DNA evidence is not the defendant’s. That was not the primary evidence. The primary evidence was the three or four confessions made by the defendant. The DNA was secondary evidence.”
Starcher said a date should be set to hear witnesses. He told both attorneys, “You want to make an order. Make it clear the other evidence should be put in if it will change the outcome.”
After the hearing Snyder said the state is ready to have an omnibus hearing. An omnibus hearing is held for the disclosure of evidentiary matters and constitutional issues that must be resolved.
Snyder said DNA was not the primary evidence in the case. He said Knotts’ confession that he killed Barlow was the primary evidence. “The victim was stabbed 40 times and shot four times,” he said.
No hearing date was set.
