Murder Charges Withdrawn In 2003 Homicide
On May 8, 2009, in the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond, first degree murder charges pending against Spencer Peters were withdrawn by the Commonwealth. Citing a number of factors, including the previous withholding of evidence favorable to Mr. Peters by the previous prosecutor assigned to the case, the prosecuting attorney told Judge C.N. Jenkins the Commonwealth no longer wished to pursue charges against Peters. Mr. Peters was represented by Horace F. Hunter in what had been a highly contested, often contentious, case involving the 2003 murder of Ambrose Carpenter.
Spencer Peters has always maintained his innocence, but the prosecution, relying mostly on the statements of federal detainees, attempted to link him to the 2003 homicide. The problem for the prosecution was that many of these witnesses had given prior inconsistent, and often completely contradictory, statements to law enforcement. The other problem with these witnesses was that they had all received significant sentences in the federal system and therefore had significant motivation to fabricate testimony. The more these inconsistencies came to light, the more problematic the case became for the prosecution.
In spite of the decision to withdraw the murder charges in this case, the attorney for the Commonwealth would not go so far as to proclaim the innocence of Mr. Peters. However, the more the evidence came to light, the more likely it appeared to Peters’ attorney that the wrong individuals had been prosecuted. Fortunately for Mr. Peters, this chapter of his life is over.
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