By: Diane Benjamin
Jamie Snow has been in prison 17 years for a Bloomignton murder he claims he didn’t commit.
William Little was shot in 1991 during a robbery at a gas station where he worked. Snow wasn’t convicted until 2001.
This week Snow made national news when the story aired on a show called Crime Watch. Two lawyers from the Exoneration Project are claiming Snow is innocent and want DNA tested. Jason Chambers, State’s Attorney, has not allowed it.
All three short segments of the show and more information can be seen here: Crime Watch
The videos are worth watching as they show some very troubling aspects of this case. Convicted rapist and former officer Jeff Pelo was the first guy on the scene, but that’s not the worst accusations against the investigation by the Bloomington Police.
Keep in mind the Exoneration Project only takes cases they believe are obvious miscarriages of justice.
At the very least, Jason Chambers should allow them to do the DNA test. Snow was convicted with no physical evidence. If evidence does exist that Snow isn’t guilty, he deserves another chance at justice. William Little’s family also deserve to know if the right guy is in prison.
I could recap a long list of problems with the case against Snow, but I want you to watch the videos instead.
The McLean County State’s Attorney’s office declined to be interviewed for the Crime Watch story.
UPDATE:
This is a link to a petition asking Jason Chambers to allow the DNA to be tested at NO expense to the County: http://www.FreeJamie.com
Thank you for sharing this story. On a related note, two snow supporters have filed a lawsuit against the City of Bloomington for wrongfully denied requests for information. For example, they have denied approximately 70 interview tapes, many of the interview subjects testified at the trial, so it’s public information. Why are they denying? Because so much exculpatory information has already been discovered through FOIA requests (before they started red-flagging) and has been filed in post-conviction proceedings. For a glimpse at what the jury DIDN’T see, we have a new evidence video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNDF-66V74o
There’s a story about the FOIA suit here: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/advocates-for-convicted-murderer-sue-city-for-records/article_f4fc2e64-5417-5e00-af82-d3c41cacf2ad.html
Thanks again for posting this.
A clear miscarriage of ‘justice’ Jason Chambers, if you have nothing to fear, test the DNA.. Your silence shows your doubt.
Interesting….why not release the DNA unless there is something to hide?
That’s a question 62,000+ people are asking in the petition to Jason Chambers. You can read it here. http://www.FreeJamie.com
I will add the link to the story.
Is Jason Chambers up for re-election soon ? If yes, then one can assume he is going to wait till he is re-elected or there is legal grounds (right or wrong) that he can slow or deny the DNA test. Seems a bit more then blind lady justice here. Not testing the DNA is handcuffing Lady Justice and she is not into that kind of treatment…
November and he is running unopposed.
Exactly, as are most of the county positions. That’s a real problem, and why they keep doing whatever they want. On the petition updates, there are a couple of posts where Chambers took to social media to defend his position, you might be interested in reading that if you want to see the lame excuses Chambers has come up with. But if you do, please also listen to Snow’s taped response. It’s very on point about why he wants the DNA tested.
What is it that needs the DNA test?
At the time of the crime, fingerprints, blood evidence, and bullets were collected at the scene. To this day, these items have never been tested for DNA. We are asking Jason Chambers to allow testing for the following items:
Fingerprints: Fingerprints were collected from the crime scene, none matched Jamie Snow. Today, the fingerprints can not only be run through the FBI fingerprint database, they can be tested for DNA. Note – 9 fingerprints were presented at trial, but through FOIA requests it was discovered that 21 latent prints were actually collected.
Bullets: Two bullets were retrieved from the victim. They should be tested not only for DNA, but can also be run through the FBI ballistics database in an effort to determine if they were linked to another crime.
Clothing: There was a clear sign of struggle. We are asking that touch DNA testing be performed on the victim’s clothing to determine who struggled with him.
Blood: In line with the signs of a struggle, there was blood evidence found underneath the counter that was identified as human blood. We would like to know the source of that “human blood.”
Additional Discovery: We are also asking for additional discovery so that an expert can give further insight to the crime scene and the meaning of the physical evidence.
Just wait until Barton McNeil gets HIS day in court again! Wanna bet his former girl (miss Nowlin) who is in DOC for killing her mother-in-law also killed the little girl that Bart is in for?? The state will be paying out LOTS of money from McLean co for wrongful convictions. Jason won’t discuss this case either
Haven’t heard of this one
Several cases came up during the social media arguments with Chambers. Ground Report laid those issues out in those cases very well in their response. But what the core issue is, Chambers is protecting the SAO wrongful convictions. Charles Reynard was the SAO in Alan Beaman’s case (overturned due to misconduct) and Eric Drew’s case (overturned due to misconduct). Reynard ALSO prosecuted Barton McNeil, Jamie Snow and Donald Whalen – all still in prison, all being represented by Innocence Projects, and all asking for DNA testing.
Wow! The reasons to move out of ILL just keep piling on.
What Comcast channel had this on?
Would like to view it.
You can watch the entire episode (3 parts) online here: http://crimewatchdaily.com/2016/10/13/jamie-snow-conviction-exoneration-project-brings-new-details-in-old-murder-case/
This is another example of why the freedom of info act is so important and why we need government accountability. Jamie Snow should not pay for govt malpractice with his life.