Murderer's request for new trial denied
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 25, 2014 1:46 PM
The one person who might be willing to say definitively whether or not Javonta Marquez Ellis, 17, is in fact guilty of murder might never be heard from.
Perez McDuffie took the stand in Wayne County Superior Court Monday and refused to testify.
Charles Gurley, Ellis' defense attorney, called two more witnesses after McDuffie -- both of whom where deemed, by the court, not credible.
The motion to set aside Ellis' conviction was denied.
"I just wish McDuffie had done what he said he was going to do. It was his statement to me that got this whole thing started," Gurley said.
Ellis and another Wayne County teen, Stephon Jennings, 19, were convicted in October for their roles in the 2012 shooting death of Kevin Bell in the Lincoln Homes Community.
Two men were with Bell when he died and were able to pick out two photos from police lineups of the men who tried to rob, and subsequently killed, Bell.
One of the men identified Jennings. The other man, Brandon Leach, identified Ellis.
Leach later identified Ellis in court.
But the same day Ellis and Jennings were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Gurley was told by McDuffie, a Wayne County Detention Center inmate, that he had information that would exonerate both men.
Gurley obtained permission from McDuffie's attorney to visit the man in jail and discuss the case with him -- and left that meeting with a sworn statement that stated that McDuffie was seated in a parked car across the street from the murder scene the night of the murder and saw two other men, not Jennings and Ellis, commit the crime.
Gurley immediately filed a motion for appropriate relief on his client's behalf seeking a new trial.
A few days later, Gurley had another sworn statement to add to the motion, this time from a witness naming the men allegedly responsible for the murder.
Jessica Uzzell told Gurley she was the former girlfriend of Juquan Dennis. Dennis is presently in jail awaiting trial for his alleged role in a separate murder.
Ms. Uzzell maintains however that it was Nebraska Best and a man named "D.J.," also known as Danny Wade, who committed the crime.
Ms. Uzzell, in her statement, said she was at the home of Best's girlfriend the night Bell died. After 1 a.m., Best came to the residence, burned his shirt out back and then confessed to Dennis that he and Wade had set out to rob Bell during a transaction involving pills. Best allegedly told Dennis that Bell pulled a gun and so he shot him.
A third witness, John Woodard, came forward Oct. 24 -- and told Gurley he had just gotten out of jail and had been incarcerated with Leach, the man who identified Ellis in court.
He said that Leach told him while the two men in the Wayne County Jail together that he felt Ellis and Jennings were innocent.
The motion for appropriate relief was scheduled to be heard Nov. 20, but was held Monday instead.
At 10:05 a.m., clad in an orange jumpsuit and shackles, McDuffie entered the courtroom, took the stand and refused to be sworn in.
"I didn't agree to this," he told the court.
McDuffie said he had since fired the lawyer that gave Gurley permission to speak to him and he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent rather than testify and possibly incriminate himself.
"I'm going to be honest," he said. "But I just want my lawyer available."
McDuffie's reluctance could be explained by what Ms. Uzzell would later testify to -- that McDuffie drove Best and Wade to the scene to commit the robbery.
When asked why she didn't come forward before, she said she was told not to come to court unless called and told to be there.
In light of McDuffie's refusal to testify, Gurley had only his written statement to rely on, but Superior Court Judge John Nobles would not allow it to be admitted.
Nobles said the court found the other two witnesses, Ms. Uzzell and Woodard, not credible.
"I understand your frustration," Nobles told Gurley. "If I could be of help to you, I would, but your motion is denied."