Parsons says prosecutors withheld evidence in wife's '81 murder

A Norwalk husband convicted in 1993 of killing his wife is seeking to be released from prison, claiming prosecutors withheld evidence of a forensic expert's erratic work record.James "Jim" O. Parsons, 77, has leukemia and congestive heart disease and has been treated at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Parsons asked a judge Thursday for a hearing involving evidence that his lawyer says could overturn his conviction for the Feb. 12, 1981 slaying of his 41-year-old wife, Barbara."I've received the copy of the filing," Huron County Prosecutor Daivia Kasper said Friday. "It was a prior administration's case."The late Greg Shell was the assistant prosecutor who handled the case with then-county Prosecutor Russell Leffler. Shell died in 2008 and Leffler retired in May.Leffler, in April, told the Reflector his office agreed that under the statute that Jim Parsons has a right to have the evidence retested. The murder of Barbara Parsons happened before the advent of forensic DNA testing."We're not agreed on anything else," said Leffler, who earlier said he suspects the evidence simply will confirm Jim Parsons is the murderer.When Parsons was arrested — Feb. 23, 1993, he had the murder weapon, a break bar (aka a breaker) in his car. Leffler has said there could be a scenario in which Parsons kept the breaker under his bed for the sake of protection."He regarded these as weapons," Leffler said last year, referring to what the testimony revealed.BCI forensic expert forcibly removed?An attorney with the Ohio Innocence Project said in court records prosecutors failed to tell Parsons' defense attorney, Cleveland lawyer Paul Mancino, the forensic expert forcibly was removed from her laboratory two months before Parsons' trial for contentious dealings with co-workers.In documents filed in Huron County Common Pleas Court, Parsons' attorney, Donald Caster, also attacked the expert's findings, saying they were based on "junk science.'' He urged Judge James Conway to "correct the injustice wrought upon the Parsons' family more than two decades ago.'' Parsons has maintained his innocence.Kasper, the current prosecutor, said Friday she didn't have any comment about the case, but added: "Certainly we will respond to the pleading."Parsons' wife died in the bedroom of her Norwalk home in 1981 after someone wielding a large, heavy object beat her 15 times in the head. Parsons has claimed he was away from his home that day, working at his auto-repair business.Twelve years later, in 1993, authorities arrested him and accused him of murder. The charge was filed after authorities resubmitted evidence to state crime analysts. Months later, a jury spent four hours deliberating before finding Parsons guilty of one count of murder. He was sentenced to 15 years to life and has spent 22 years in prison.Parsons has been at the Richland Correctional Institution since Aug. 18, 1993. His next parole hearing is in March.Caster, in the document, said Parsons' conviction hinged on the testimony of forensic scientist G. Michele Yezzo, from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.During Parsons' trial, Yezzo testified about bloodstains found on evidence and the patterns they left behind. Specifically, she used chemical enhancements to find the stains had markings linked to a large mechanic's tool. Authorities seized a similar tool in a car Parsons had sold to a friend.Yezzo used photography to document her work on many of the items she analyzed, but not on all of the items in the Parsons case, Caster said."When she came to the key evidence upon which Mr. Parsons' conviction would be based, she abandoned the photography," Caster wrote. "Indeed, Ms. Yezzo's decisions in this case are more than troubling."They are indefensible. By using chemical enhancement and choosing not to photograph the results, she effectively prevented any other scientist from verifying or replicating her work."But Caster said prosecutors withheld information from Mancino about Yezzo. In 1989, a state supervisor wrote in a memo that Yezzo's "findings and conclusions regarding the truth may be suspect. She will stretch the truth to satisfy a department,'" according to Caster's filing, which quotes from the memo.Caster said in documents that prosecutors knew that Yezzo was escorted from her office. Caster said in an interview that Shell, an assistant prosecutor at the time, called Yezzo at work prior to the trial to prepare her for testifying.Shell learned Yezzo wasn't at work, as she had been placed on administrative leave, according to the filing and Caster. Yezzo had been at home after being escorted from the office following a work-related incident, according to the filing.Yezzo wrote about the prosecutor's call in a note to a human resources' employee at her office. The note, which Caster attached to the filing, was dated July 27, 1993; Parsons went to trial two weeks later."On 7/19/1993, I received a call from Huron County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Shell, who explained that he needed my testimony related to a homicide trial in August,'" Yezzo wrote. "I explained that he would have to talk to the BCI about any matters concerning his case and that I could only be available through the bureau."In an interview with The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Mancino said he knew nothing about Yezzo's issues at work. Had he known, the attorney said he would have used it in his cross-examination of Yezzo.Yezzo declined to comment Thursday. It is unclear whether the case could affect other cases that Yezzo handled. A spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's office declined to comment. As of April, BCI was retesting several pieces of evidence.Sherry Parsons, the younger daughter of James and Barbara, said she and her sister are steadfastly behind her father."He should never have been in there," she told the Plain-Dealer. "I haven't given up on this, and I'm not going to ever. I just hope we're at the end."Parsons