Odell Barnes, Jr.The Crime: Helen Bass was murdered on November 30, 1989. She had been shot, bludgeoned, and stabbed. She was found face down on her bed, nude. A rifle butt was found in her room and a kitchen knife covered in blood was found on the floor just inside the door to her house. The room was in shambles. Her jewelry box and two purses appeared to have been dumped and scattered. Other belongings were discovered near a fence outside her house. Barnes was arrested, tried, and convicted for the murder.
Executed: 03/01/2000
His Last Meal: Justice, Equality, World Peace.
However he was probably served whatever the meal was on the menu in the prison kitchen.
Why perhaps we rushed to judgement a little too quickly in Mr Barnes case:- The original defense attorneys appointed by the state failed to investigate, and thus failed to discover and present evidence of Barnes's innocence.
- The original defense attorneys failed to have evidence that was used to convict Barnes tested by defense experts.
- Counsel who took over the case for federal appeals sought analysis of the crime scene, fingerprint identification, DNA testing, and additional time to conduct a factual investigation. All these requests were denied.
- Counsel in federal appeals nonetheless carried out independently funded investigations that yielded substantial evidence that raised doubts about Barnes's guilt.
- Blood on Barnes's coveralls, part of the evidence used to secure his conviction, contained a preservative found in test tubes used to store blood. The expert opinion of the chemist, hired by the defense, was that it did not come from "original, legitimate crime scene evidence . . . deriving from natural bleeding from a normal human being."
- The primary eyewitness and his sister saw a man jump a fence near the crime scene one and one-half hours before the victim returned home. The witness told his sister that the man was not Barnes, but testified at trial that it was Barnes.
- The two main witnesses for the prosecution were implicated in the crime by independent witnesses.
- The fingerprint on the murder weapon was analyzed by the state and was found not to be Barnes's fingerprint. A defense expert identified the fingerprint as belonging to one of the state's main witnesses.
- A lamp on which Barnes's fingerprint was found, and that the state claimed had been recently acquired by the victim, had been in the victim's home for at least five years. Barnes had been in the house numerous times and had helped move furniture.
- Evidence suggests that one of the state's witnesses cut a deal with the District Attorney on two drug charges pending against him in exchange for his testimony, although this was not revealed to Barnes's original trial lawyers.
So much for the justice system. Anyhow, if you wish to enjoy Mr. Barne's last meal, here it is.
How To Prepare Justice, Equality, World Peace Jade Pork.
Ingredients:
1 cup of Justice
1/2 tblsp Equality
2 pounds of World Peace
1-1/2 lbs. pork tenderloins, trimmed and cut into 1/8 inch strips
1 large eggplant
3 stalks of celery
1 large onion
2 tblsp peanut oil
3 tblsp hoisin sauce
1 tblsp black bean paste
1 tblsp of cooking sherry
Preparation:
Take 1 cup of Justice and wash thoroughly. Pat dry and set aside.
Chop celery into bite sized chunks. Do the same with the onions.
Peel and cut eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes.
Take 1/2 tsp of Equality and smash with flat of knife. Put in small cup and set aside.
Wash and devein the World Peace. Make sure you clean out the small sack under the World Peace's stomach as it contains much fecal matter.
Cooking:
Heat wok at high heat on your burner. Pour in peanut oil. Dump in Pork, Justice, Equality and World Peace in wok and fry. Keep stirring until Pork is completely cooked through.
Dump in egglplant, onion, and celery. Keep stirring until eggplant is cooked. You can tell the eggplant is cooked as the cubes start to get soft.
Add in hoisin sauce, black bean paste and sherry. Keep stirring for another minute.
Serve over a bed of white rice.