Ryan Matthews
Juvenile Offender in Louisiana
August 9, 2004 - All charges dismissed. Matthews becomes the 115th death row inmate to be released.
Case Overview
News
Case Overview
Ryan Matthews, an African American, was 17 years of age at the time of his arrest for the April 7, 1997 murder of Bridge City grocer Tommy Vanhoose.
Facts of The Case
On April 7, 1997, a masked gunman shot Tommy Vanhoose to death in the grocery store he owned in Bridge City, near New Orleans, Louisiana. Witnesses saw a sole masked gunman walk into the store and demand money at gunpoint. Upon Mr. Vanhoose’s refusal, the gunman shot him several times. According to witnesses he then ran out of the store and continued shooting before jumping through the open passenger side window of a waiting car. The gunman then discarded the ski mask as he drove away. A witness subsequently picked up the ski mask and handed it to the police.
The Trial
On May 6, 1999 Ryan Matthews was convicted of the murder of Mr. Vanhoose. The trial and subsequent conviction of Mr. Matthews have however raised questions and concerns of possible innocence, compounded by evidence of mental retardation.
Issues of race permeated the trial. In selecting the jurors the state secured a predominantly white jury with eleven white members and only one African American. Approximately one third of the population in the county in which the trial was conducted is from a minority. Clearly in comparison, the jury was unrepresentative of the racial makeup of the county.
Concerns have also been raised as to the pressure placed upon the jury to reach a verdict and the rushed manner in which the trial was conducted. The trial lasted only three days. On the second day the State presented evidence until 10pm at night. The defense then moved to rest, however the Judge denied the request, instead ordering the prosecution and defense to make their closing statement. The defense then moved to rest again, which similarly was denied: The jurors were then sent to deliberate. At 4.20 am the jury sent a note to the judge stating that they were unable to reach a verdict. The judge ordered them to continue. Just 40 minutes later at 5am the jury returned a verdict of guilty. The fairness of a verdict reached by a jury with no sleep after over 14 hours of listening to evidence and deliberating in a single day is clearly questionable.
Possible Innocence
No physical evidence connected Mr. Matthews to the crime. Indeed, conversely DNA tests on saliva and skin cells found on the ski mask excluded him and matched another convicted felon, Mr. Rondell Love. Mr. Love is currently serving twenty years for the manslaughter of Chandra Conley who was found with her throat slashed in 1997.
The DNA evidence is further corroborated by alleged jailhouse confessions from Mr. Love. James Harrison, an inmate at Jefferson Parish Correctional Centre came forward to Matthew’s attorneys to tell of Mr. Love’s confession to the murder of Mr. Vanhoose.
As stated above, eyewitnesses also saw the perpetrator leave the shop and jump through the passenger window of a waiting car. The police arrested Matthews later that evening in a car matching the description of the getaway car; however, the passenger side window could not be wound down and had been broken for as long as anyone could remember. Matthews’ car therefore could not have been the car used in the shooting
Possible Mental Retardation
IQ tests presented into evidence at trial demonstrate that Matthews had an IQ of 71, classifying him as borderline mentally retarded.
Mental retardation is a disability characterized by:
- Significant limitations in intellectual functioning
- Significant limitations in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills
- Origination before the age of 18
(American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) 2002 Definition)
The AAMR definition of mental retardation was referenced in the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Atkins v Virginia prohibiting the execution of offenders with mental retardation.
It should however, be noted that co-existence of all three elements is not necessary for a diagnosis of mental
retardation.
For more information on mental retardation in general please click
here for the AAMR website.
Current Status
On April 15, 200, Ryan Matthews was granted a new-trial after DNA evidence indicated that the prosecutors had convicted the wrong man. No date has been set for the new trial. His attorney and family are confident that he will be found innocent.
Executing Juvenile Offenders is Contrary to International Law
The execution of child offenders is in contravention of international law and fundamental standards of human rights. The ultimate goal of the international community is to abolish the death penalty under all circumstances, however, until that time there are restrictions on the categories of persons who can be executed, juveniles being one of the restricted categories. The prohibition of the execution of juveniles is referenced in a number of international treaties, declarations, and statements by international bodies, in addition to the laws of the majority of nations. Please refer to the International
Instruments section, for more explanations of juvenile offenders and international law.
Juvenile Offenders: Issues of Mitigation
By their very nature, teenagers are less mature, and therefore less culpable than adults. Adolescence is a transitional period of life when cognitive abilities, emotions, judgment, impulse control, and identity are still developing. The IJP offers overviews on brain
development and trauma as possible mitigation factors for juvenile offenders.
News
August 9, 2004 - All charges dismissed. Matthews becomes the 115th death row inmate to be released.
June 18 2004 - Matthews granted bail while awaiting new trial
April 15, 2004 - Officials grant Matthews new trial after 5 years on death row.
March 12, 2004 - Convict's attorneys to argue for new trial ; DNA at murder scene presented
year ago
August 12, 2003 - New twist added to Jeff death row case -- Defense team wants prosecutor
barred
July 14, 2003 -Trapped in the System
August 9 2004
LOUISIANA:
DNA leads to dropping of murder charge
A murder charge was dropped Monday against Ryan Matthews, a former death
row inmate whose conviction in a 1997 murder was brought into question by
DNA evidence.
Matthews, 24, was charged with 1st-degree murder in the 1997 shooting
death of Bridge City grocer Tommy Vanhoose. Matthews was 17 at the time.
He was released on bond in June after prosecutors received results from
DNA tests that showed no trace of Matthews on evidence recovered from the
murder scene.
More than a year ago, Matthews' defense team found that DNA on a ski mask
believed to be worn by Vanhoose's killer matches another man serving a
prison sentence for manslaughter in an unrelated killing.
Matthews' conviction and death sentence were tossed out earlier this year
and prosecutors were faced with a decision on whether to retry him.
The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office said it consented to a
bond and home incarceration based on the DNA results. But prosecutors said
they are considering to do more testing.
District Attorney Paul D. Connick Jr. said his office "would continue to
investigate all the facts and evidence" of the case pending a new trial.
(source: The Associated Press)
Ex-Death Row Inmate Home on Bond. He Awaits New Trial in 1997 Murder Case
Gwen Filosa, Staff writer
Once a convicted murderer on Louisiana's death row, a Gretna man is now
living at his mother's home while he awaits a new trial on a capital murder
charge.
Ryan Matthews, 24, was released Friday from the Jefferson Parish Prison on
$105,000 bond by 24th Judicial District Court Judge Henry Sullivan during an
impromptu hearing not listed on the court's docket.
Pauline Matthews used her life's savings to post $5,000 of her son's bond,
while others pledged to cover the remaining $100,000 if Ryan fails to show
up when called to court.
Matthews, however, may not leave his mother's home in Gretna and remains
charged with first-degree murder in the 1997 shooting death of Bridge City
grocer Tommy Vanhoose. Matthews was 17 at the time and had been locked up
since his arrest until Friday.
It is unusual for anyone charged with first-degree murder, which can carry
the death penalty upon conviction, to be allowed to make bond.
The extraordinary move occurred after prosecutors recently received results
from DNA tests that showed no trace of Matthews on evidence recovered from
the murder scene, his defense attorneys said Tuesday.
More than a year ago, Matthews' defense team found that DNA on a ski mask
believed to be worn by Vanhoose's killer matches another man, convicted
killer Rondell Love, not Matthews.
Based on that evidence,
Matthews' conviction was vacated this year. A new trial was ordered, putting
the case back to square one -- which includes giving Matthews back the
presumption of innocence.
Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick's office did not oppose
Matthews' request for bond, in yet another sign that the first-degree murder
case is headed in a far different direction than it did when a jury
unanimously convicted Matthews in 1999 and agreed on a death sentence.
First Assistant District Attorney Steve Wimberly would answer no questions
on the case Tuesday but said the office will release a statement about
Matthews today.
Matthews' attorneys, Clive Stafford Smith and Billy Sothern of the Louisiana
Crisis Assistance Center in New Orleans, said they are hopeful that the next
development in the case is a dismissal of the charges.
"Our only focus at this point is ending the whole thing so Ryan can move on
with his life," Sothern said.
The case has drawn international attention because Matthews was 17 at the
time of the killing -- making him a juvenile on death row -- and is mentally
retarded, according to his lawyers.
When her son was incarcerated at the state prison at Angola, Pauline
Matthews was unable to touch him physically because of prison rules. Inside
their shotgun double home Tuesday, she sat closely behind her son, who wears
an electronic monitor on his ankle that connects through the phone system to
the local Police Department.
"I had to hold his hand in the car to make sure it was real," she said of
the ride home from jail Friday evening.
Inside the modest home where Pauline Matthews lives with her two children
and 14-month-old granddaughter, family and friends warmly welcomed Ryan
Matthews home Friday.
Ryan Matthews, dressed in jeans, a gray T-shirt and bright white sneakers,
was not allowed by his attorneys to talk to a reporter Tuesday. However, he
did acknowledge that he was happy to be home. A wedge of chocolate cake from
the family's Friday night welcome-home party sat under glass, and a handmade
banner proclaiming "Praise God" remained on display.
"I have no room for bitterness," said Pauline Matthews, who will turn 56
this week. "All I want is Ryan to be free. What's been done, you can't
undo."
Matthews' attorneys said that while house incarceration doesn't allow
Matthews true freedom, it may help in alleviating his health concerns.
Because suffers from a seizure disorder, being home will ensure that he
receives his medication on time, something they said couldn't be counted on
in either prison or jail, his attorneys said.
Matthews was one of two people convicted in the Vanhoose murder. Travis
Hayes remains in prison, serving life after being convicted at a separate
trial. His case is on appeal.
(Source: Times-Picayune, June 23, 2004)
April 15, 2004
La. Inmate on Death Row to Get New Trial----Prosecutors, who initially
refused to follow the lead of a DNA test, reverse position.
A year after DNA tests indicated that Louisiana prosecutors had convicted
the wrong man of a 1997 murder, officials agreed Wednesday to grant the
man a new trial after 5 years on death row.
The DNA tests on evidence central to the murder case had shown no links to
Ryan Matthews, 24, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence since he
was arrested for the murder of Tommy Vanhoose, a grocer.
Instead, the tests on a ski mask worn by Vanhoose's assailant pointed to a
different man, Rondell Love. He was already in prison, serving a 20-year
sentence for killing a woman in the same area where Vanhoose died, across
the Mississippi River from New Orleans, 8 months after the grocer was
killed.
In addition to the DNA evidence implicating Love, three prisoners filed
declarations in court last year saying that Love had bragged to them that
he had murdered Vanhoose.
Until Wednesday, however, Jefferson Parish Dist. Atty. Paul D. Connick Jr.
and his prosecutors had resisted granting a new trial for Matthews. Last
month, Assistant Dist. Atty. David Wolfe said there were "absolutely no
merits" to the defense contentions that the DNA showed Matthews was not
the killer.
Connick reversed field on the eve of hearings called for today and Friday
by District Judge Henry Sullivan to review the ethics of how Jefferson
Parish prosecutors had handled Matthews' trial in 1999.
Among the issues to be considered were allegations that prosecutors had
suppressed important information about one of their key witnesses during
the trial.
The case has attracted attention because of the unusual situation of
prosecutors refusing to follow the lead of a DNA test. Such tests are
often the strongest evidence prosecutors use to obtain guilty verdicts,
but they also have been used in a growing number of cases to free people
who were wrongly convicted.
In a formal statement issued by his office Wednesday, Connick said he was
acting "in the interest of justice" because the DNA test results on the
ski mask "confirmed the presence of DNA of someone other" than Matthews.
Connick's statement did not mention Love.
Billy Sothern of the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, one of Matthews'
appellate lawyers, said Connick had "clearly made the right decision."
"We are very glad that Ryan is off death row, and we expect that he will
be freed to come home very soon," he added.
Sothern and his co-counsel, Clive Stafford Smith, said that given the
current state of the evidence, Matthews should be freed without a retrial.
They said they would continue to push for Matthews' release.
"Hopefully they will come to the recognition that there is no case against
Ryan. This is a classic case of a wrongful conviction," Smith said.
No physical evidence has been found to link Matthews, who had just turned
17 when he was arrested, to the Vanhoose murder. Vanhoose, the well-liked
owner of Comeaux's Grocery, near the Avondale Shipyard on the west bank of
the Mississippi River, was shot four times with a .38-caliber revolver
during a bungled robbery attempt and bled to death.
Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project at New York's Cardozo
Law School, who is working with Matthews' defense team, said the DNA tests
made it clear that Matthews did not murder Vanhoose and strongly indicated
that Love did. Love's DNA was found on the mouth area of the ski mask that
the killer wore, according to tests performed by Bode Laboratories of
Virginia.
"It's clear to me that the district attorney's office is coming to grips
with the significance and implications of the DNA evidence, and they are
bound to follow the leads," Scheck said.
Scheck and other lawyers working on Matthews' behalf say they believe the
prosecutors have been reluctant to drop the case against Matthews, despite
the DNA evidence, because of a confession they got from Matthews' friend
Travis Hayes.
After 6 hours of interrogation by police, Hayes told investigators that he
had driven with Matthews to Vanhoose's store, had watched his friend go in
and, about 15 minutes later, heard shots and saw Matthews run out.
The 2 then drove away, and he never asked Matthews what had happened,
Hayes said. Hayes was convicted of second-degree murder for his
involvement in the killing. His statement conflicted in several ways with
other witness testimony and was never used at Matthews' trial.
But for the prosecutors, "the confession is troubling," Scheck said.
Richard Ofshe, a UC Berkeley sociologist who is considered one of the
country's leading experts on false confessions, reviewed Hayes' statements
and other evidence for Hayes' appeal and filed a declaration saying there
was "cause for serious doubt about the reliability of the confession."
In 23 of the 143 cases where DNA evidence has led to a post-conviction
exoneration over the last 15 years, there was a false confession,
according to the Innocence Project. Despite growing evidence that people
really do confess falsely, Scheck said, it "is always harder for
prosecutors to accept."
Prosecutors declined to comment.
Connick's decision to give Matthews a new trial came 11 months after the
Louisiana Supreme Court responded to the DNA test results and other
material presented by Matthews' appellate lawyers and ordered a special
hearing.
In addition to the DNA evidence, the court also considered arguments about
the 2 main witnesses against Matthews, a man and a woman who each claimed
to have seen Vanhoose's killer.
The way authorities handled one of the witnesses raised questions about
whether Matthews got a fair trial, the state Supreme Court said.
Matthews' mother, Pauline, and his sister Monique, who visit him
frequently in prison, said they were disturbed that he had not been
released, particularly because he periodically had seizures and did not
always get the medicine he needed in prison.
"I can't believe it," Pauline said. "If DNA proves guilt, why can't it
prove innocence. Is it so hard [for the prosecutors] to say, 'I made a
mistake?' I wonder how they would feel if it was one of their children."
(source: Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2004)
Convict's attorneys to argue for new trial ; DNA at murder scene presented
year
ago
Gwen Filosa Staff writer
A year after defense attorneys for convicted murderer Ryan Matthews presented
DNA evidence from the crime scene that matches another man, a Jefferson
Parish
judge has set an April hearing on the facts of the case. Matthews, who was
convicted in 1999 of murdering Bridge City grocer Tommy Vanhoose during a
robbery, appeared in court Thursday as his attorneys asked for his release on
bail.
Prosecutors balked at the request, saying state law clearly says anyone
convicted of a capital crime is not entitled to bail. The judge agreed, but
said the waiting period for a hearing on the case will soon end.
"The court does not have the authority to hold a bail hearing at this time,"
said Judge Henry Sullivan, who sentenced Matthews to death in 1999. "What I'd
like to do is move forward as quickly as possible."
The Louisiana Supreme Court last May ordered a hearing to be held in the 24th
Judicial District Court in Jefferson Parish.
On April 16, defense attorneys for Matthews will argue for a new trial,
promising to call DNA experts to the stand and offer witnesses who will say
another man, a convict serving time for another Bridge City murder, killed
Vanhoose.
At the 1999 trial in the 24th Judicial District, jurors relied on the word of
two eyewitnesses to return a death penalty verdict against Matthews, who
was 17
at the time of the killing. The jury heard that DNA recovered from the
ski mask
didn't match that of the teenager, but found Matthews guilty after two
hours of
deliberating.
In March 2003, defense attorneys from the Louisiana Crisis Assistance
Center in
New Orleans announced they had re-tested skin tissue found on the mask, which
the shooter wore, and the results not only once again excluded Matthews but
also pointed to another man.
In January, more tests were released by the defense, showing that DNA on
gloves
found at the scene also matched that other man, a convict named Rondell Love
who is serving time for the manslaughter of a Bridge City woman. Love
admitted
slashing Chandra Conley's throat in 1998.
Love has told inmates that he killed the grocer, Matthews' attorneys said,
citing sworn statements they have collected.
They say that District Attorney Paul Connick's office has no choice but to
dismiss the charges, freeing Matthews, who remains on death row at the state
prison at Angola.
"At this point, there is no realistic possibility that Ryan Matthews is
guilty
of this offense," said defense attorney Clive Stafford Smith, who added that
Matthews is mentally retarded and suffers from a seizure disorder.
Assistant District Attorney Terry Boudreaux said the defense's argument is
"compelling" but not relevant to the issue before the court Thursday. He
would
not take questions from reporters after the hearing.
(Times Picayune) March 12, 2004
New twist added to Jeff death row case -- Defense team wants prosecutor
barred
One of the Jefferson Parish prosecutors who helped send Ryan Matthews to
death row after the 1996 murder of a Bridge City grocer must be removed
from the case as it heads into hearings over newly discovered DNA
evidence, defense attorneys argued Monday.
Assistant District Attorney David Wolfff can't represent the state, said
attorney Clive Stafford Smith, because he will be a witness in an upcoming
hearing, at which Matthews' attorneys say they will present evidence that
was withheld at trial.
Prosecutors wouldn't concede.
"I'm choosing not to withdraw," Wolff told Judge Henry Sullivan at a court
hearing Monday. The court scheduled a hearing on the matter for Aug. 28.
District Attorney Paul Connick's office would not comment on the request
by defense attorneys, and said it will respond to the defense in court
papers.
Matthews was 17 when arrested on a charge of shooting Tommy Vanhoose in
Comeaux's Grocery during a robbery, and he was sentenced to die by lethal
injection by a unanimous Jefferson Parish jury.
Without scientific evidence, prosecutors at trial based their case on a
confession by the convicted getaway driver, Travis Hayes.
Matthews' case erupted in April, when defense attorneys announced they had
found DNA on the ski mask that linked another man to the murder.
Skin cells matching Rondell Love, who purportedly bragged about killing
Vanhoose while imprisoned for another Bridge City murder, were found on
the mask, defense attorneys said.
The Louisiana Supreme Court in May ordered Sullivan to hold a hearing on
the DNA, and also said the judge should consider holding a 2nd hearing on
whether Matthews is legally mentally retarded.
Prosecutors agreed to a legal review of the ski mask DNA, but have said
it's far too early to draw conclusions of Matthews' role in the murder
based solely on the skin cells of Love, who is serving 20 years for
slashing Chandra Conley to death in 1998.
On Monday, Matthews sat shackled and chained in court, as his
much-anticipated court hearing quickly dissolved into a legal fight over
Wolff's assignment. His mother and sister sat behind him in court.
"We can't trust the people who put Ryan on death row to let him go,"
Pauline Matthews said of her son's case outside the courthouse.
Matthews' defense attorneys suggested Monday that new evidence will
surface at the upcoming hearings. "It remains to be seen what they (the
prosecution) did and didn't know," attorney Billy Sothern said.
(source: Times Picayune) – August 12, 2003
Trapped in the System
So what do you do if you've put the wrong man on death row, and you've got
the evidence in hand to prove who really committed the murder?
One of the great problems of the American criminal justice system is that
this is not an easy call. Once an innocent person is trapped in the
system, it's extremely difficult to get him or her extricated.
On the evening of April 7, 1997, the proprietor of a convenience store in
Bridge City, La., was shot to death by a holdup man wearing a ski mask.
Witnesses said the gunman ran out of the store and dived through the
passenger window of a getaway car. As the driver sped off, the gunman
tossed the ski mask out the window.
2 years later a retarded teenager named Ryan Matthews was convicted of the
murder and sentenced to death. He's now on death row in the state
penitentiary in Angola.
8 months after the murder, and just a 1/2-mile from the convenience store,
a man named Rondell Love slashed the throat of a woman named Chandra
Conley, killing her. Mr. Love eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter
and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. So he's also in Angola.
Mr. Matthews, who was 17 when the convenience store murder occurred, has
always insisted he had nothing to do with the crime. Mr. Love, on the
other hand, has reportedly bragged in prison about committing that murder.
You be the judge. Mr. Matthews was convicted and sentenced to death
despite the fact that DNA tests showed conclusively that tissue samples
taken from the killer's mask had not come from him. Attorneys handling Mr.
Matthews's appeal arranged to have the DNA analysis of those samples
compared with an analysis of Rondell Love's DNA. It was a perfect match.
The human tissue taken from the mask worn by the killer in the convenience
store had come from Mr. Love.
Attorney Billy Sothern of the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, which is
representing Mr. Matthews, told me in an interview that the DNA analysis
cleared up a troubling discrepancy that had existed from the very
beginning. Eyewitnesses had said the gunman in the convenience store was
not very tall, perhaps 5-5 or 5-6, and of medium build.
Sheree Falgout, who was standing at the register when the proprietor was
gunned down, recalled telling the police that the assailant "was not a
large person." Other witnesses concurred.
Ryan Matthews is 6 feet tall. Rondell Love is 5-7 and weighs less than 150
pounds.
What we have here is a major league miscarriage of justice. The question
now is how to correct it.
Mr. Sothern and Ryan Matthews's mother, Pauline, have been on a campaign
to have Mr. Matthews's death sentence lifted and his conviction
overturned.
"This is the trifecta in terms of what's wrong with the death penalty,"
said Mr. Sothern. "Ryan was a juvenile at the time of the murder, he's
retarded, and he's innocent."
The case is also a quintessential example of the hideous consequences that
can result when a killer remains at large because the wrong person has
been imprisoned. If Rondell Love had been arrested in a timely fashion for
the convenience store murder, Chandra Conley's life would have been
spared.
Even at this late date no one knows if the courts and prosecutors in
Louisiana will ultimately do the right thing. The state's Supreme Court
and the Jefferson County district attorney have agreed that another look
at the case is warranted, and a hearing will be held Aug. 11.
"As this will be the first time that Ryan, our legal team, the judge and
the district attorneys will be in the same room, it is very difficult for
us to know what will happen in advance," said Mr. Sothern.
It's easy to say what should happen. Mr. Matthews's conviction should be
thrown out as quickly as possible, and the case against Rondell Love
should be vigorously pursued. But freeing someone who has been wrongfully
convicted is a torturously slow and difficult process, with no guarantee
at any time that it will end positively.
"For 2 years," said Pauline Matthews, "we lived each day with the threat
that Ryan was going to die."
Mr. Sothern said his client, who had an I.Q. of 71, suffered additional
cognitive impairment during his time on death row. Mr. Matthews is subject
to seizures that must be controlled by medication. On 2 occasions, said
Mr. Sothern, he was not given the required medication and the result has
been long-term brain damage.
(source: Editorial, Bob Herbert, New York Times)
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