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..Tyler Wayne Edmonds was a 13 year-old honor student at his West Point, MS middle school in May, 2003. He had no history of violence, gang affiliation or proclivity to anti-social behavior. Tyler attended his local church regularly and respected adult authority. On May 11, 2003 the murdered body of Joey Fulgham was discovered in his Longview Community home near Starkville, MS. Tyler confessed to the murder and was arrested the next day. How could this happen?Tyler had a very close relationship with his half-sister, Kristi Fulgham, who was Joey’s ex-wife. The Fulgham marriage had a long history of marital tumult and domestic violence which escalated when she disclosed her third child came from Joey’s best friend. Also, Kristi mistakenly thought she was the beneficiary of Joey’s $300,000 life insurance policy. Any motivation to harm Joey belonged to Kristi Fulgham. Tyler longed to have a relationship with his estranged father and Kristi set up weekend visits. Tyler expected to visit his Dad over that May weekend with Kristi. The visit never occurred. Shortly after Kristi was notified of Joey’s death, she confessed her guilt to Tyler. Kristi coerced Tyler to confess to the murder indicating she would be put to death and he would not suffer jail time due to his minor status. He loved and trusted her enough to do just that.After hours of interrogation, Tyler gave an illogical confession to the authorities without an attorney or parent present. The 13 year old boy was allowed to waive his Miranda Rights that would ultimately determine his liberty for life. When he was finally told the truth and realized Kristi had lied to him, he recanted, but it was too late. There was no physical evidence to incriminate Tyler. The murder weapon and Kristi’s home computer disappeared after the murder. Despite no physical evidence, motive, or prior criminal record, Tyler was tried, convicted and sentenced as an adult. The trial was clearly weighted to the prosecution. His defense was not allowed effective representation including a false confessions expert witness. Further, the jury was not fully aware of Mississippi’s mandatory sentencing laws. In July, 2004, Tyler Wayne Edmonds was sentenced to life in prison without parole until age 65. At age 15, Tyler was given life in prison for a crime he did not commit.There is still hope. The merciless injustice done to this loving, trusting boy can be made right. YOU can make a difference.*****Courtesy of Matt Meleen, Administrator of freetyler.org
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Tyler Edmonds' conviction overturned
By BEN BOUNDS
Starkville Daily News
The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday overturned Tyler Edmonds’ murder conviction and ordered a new trial for the teenager in the 2003 shooting death of his half-sister’s husband.
The Supreme Court granted Edmonds’ petition for a writ of certiorari and have found he was denied a constitutionally fair trial, reversed the judgments of the Court of Appeals and the Circuit Court of Oktibbeha County and is remanding his case to the circuit court for a new trial..
Edmonds appealed his conviction and sentence twice, and the Supreme Court assigned the appeal to the Court of Appeals.
Local prosecutors, however, said the Supreme Court’s opinion is unofficial until the court hands down a formal order. “In a 69-page opinion, the Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for Tyler Edmonds,†Assistant District Attorney Frank Clark said. “As of now, it is just an opinion, and has not been accompanied by a mandate. The Court of Appeals said over a year ago that there was no reversible or harmful error in Tyler’s trial. Apparently the Supreme Court disagreed.â€
Clark would not comment further on the Supreme Court’s decision, but did address his office’s sympathies for the family of the victim, Joey T. Fulgham.
“We’re just heartbroken for this family,†Clark said. “It’s been three and a half going on four years, and they just need to have some closure on all of this. They haven’t done anything other than love their family member and be completely supportive and quiet throughout all of this.â€
Clark’s fellow prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Patricia Faver, echoed his sentiments.
“There still has to be an official mandate from the Supreme Court, this is just an unofficial opinion,†Faver said. “Until there is an official mandate by the Supreme Court, which may be next week, two weeks or however long they decide it’s going to take them to do that, it’s not completely official yet.â€
Faver said the Attorney General’s Office handles all of the district attorney’s appeals, not the district attorney’s office.
“What we are requesting that they do is file a motion for rehearing, just like they did with the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals had affirmed the decision, and then the defense went and asked for a new hearing. They revisited it and affirmed it again. That was a year and a half ago. The bottom line is, if this is what they want, if this is their official opinion, then we will try the case again.
“We are so sorry for the (Fulgham) family, Frank and I are,†Faver said. “They have been through two trials, two separate trials in two different counties. Twelve people from two different counties have found them both (Edmonds and his half-sister, Kristi Fulgham) guilty, and the Court of Appeals has affirmed it twice, saying not only that there wasn’t any error at all — it was a perfect trial.â€
Andrea White, a close friend of Tyler’s and a juvenile justice advocate from Summit, Ark., spoke candidly Thursday about the Supreme Court’s opinion.
“Tyler’s mother called me to tell me the news shortly before 2 p.m.,†White said.
“I hit the floor crying. You have no idea how hard we’ve all worked, and this is such retribution for all of us, and for Tyler especially. The highest court in the entire state just proved that what (Circuit Court Judge) Jim Kitchens did to a 13-year-old child was completely unconstitutional.
“It’s one thing to do something unconstitutional to anybody, but to do it to a 13-year-old child is another. God knows when things are going wrong and when people start doing people wrong, and God will always be the one who fixes it.â€
White said she believes this is the first step to Edmonds regaining his freedom
“This is just amazing,†White said. “A lot of people thought that Tyler was going to spend the rest of his life in jail, but he’s not now. There’s no way.â€
In a previous statement, White said this case troubled her more than anything in the world, because she used to have a deep faith in America’s justice system.
“I’ve lost that and I won’t find it again until Tyler receives justice,†she said.
The state Court of Appeals upheld Edmonds’ conviction last year in the May 10, 2003, shooting death of Joey Fulgham while he slept in his Longview community home, just a few miles west of Starkville.
Now 17 years old, Edmonds was just 13 when he was arrested in 2003. He was convicted of murder in 2004 in Oktibbeha County.
Edmonds’ sister was convicted of the greater charge of capital murder last month and received the death penalty. She is the first woman ever convicted in Oktibbeha County of capital murder and sentenced to death.
Thursday, the Supreme Court said that Edmonds’ trial was tainted by unsupported testimony from forensic pathologist, Dr. Stephen Hayne, that Edmonds and his half sister pulled the trigger of the gun used to kill Joey Fulgham together.
The Supreme Court’s statement said prosecutors had no evidence to support a two-shooter theory.
Presiding Justice Bill Waller Jr., writing the major opinion, said Kitchens should not have allowed Hayne’s testimony about a two-shooter theory, practically ruling out a single-shooter theory. Hayne’s testimony states that the positioning of the weapon led him to believe that two people had pulled the trigger. Waller said such testimony was beyond Hayne’s area of expertise.
“While Dr. Hayne is qualified to proffer expert opinions in forensic pathology, a court should not give such an expert carte blanche to proffer any opinion he chooses. There was no showing that Dr. Hayne’s testimony was based, not on opinions or speculation, but rather on scientific methods and procedures,†Waller’s statement read.
Edmonds’ defense attorney, Jim Waide of Tupelo, said Hayne’s testimony was a major issue at the trial.
“It’s always difficult to know what will influence the jury. I think his (Hayne’s) testimony was absurd and I was astounded that it may well have influenced how the trial came out,†Waide said.
Waide said he is relieved that Tyler will get a new trial.
“We’re back now where we started four years ago,†he said.
Waller said Kitchens, as the trial judge, also erred by excluding the testimony of Danny Edmonds, the father of Kristi Fulgham and Tyler, who told law enforcement officers that Kristi Fulgham had asked him for a pistol because “she wanted Joey dead†and that she would kill him in his sleep.
Danny Edmonds also told officers that Kristi told him that Joey had several hundred thousand dollars in life insurance that would go to her if he were dead.
The trial judge ruled the statements were inadmissible hearsay.
Waller said the statements indicated Kristi’s intention to murder her husband and corroborated Tyler’s defense that Kristi was the person who shot Joey Fulgham.
“Moreover, Danny Edmonds’ statement is corroborated by other evidence: Kristi had previously inquired about Joey’s life insurance with the National Guard, and Joey’s body was found in his bed, consistent with someone who had been shot in their sleep,†Waller said.
That same testimony was, however, allowed in Kristi Fulgham’s prosecution by Circuit Judge Lee J. Howard, and was considered to be some of the most damaging evidence against her by the prosecuting attorneys.
Waller said the only direct evidence that Tyler was involved in Joey Fulgham’s murder was Kristi Fulgham’s allegations that Tyler killed Joey Fulgham and Tyler’s disputed confession.
“Tyler had absolutely no motive to kill Joey other than to please Kristi,†Waller said. “Tyler had no expectation of financial gain from Joey’s death. Kristi, on the other hand, had the means, the motive and the opportunity to kill Joey.â€
Throughout Fulgham’s trial, the prosecution, Clark and Faver, who also tried Edmonds’ case, referred to Edmonds as one of the victims in this crime, and suggested that he was led astray by his older half-sister.Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Now that Tyler is home (awaiting his new trial), if you would like to write to him, simply email him here or at his website www.freetyler.org!
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