DNA tests in '94 death underway, project says

County declines to appeal court order

DNA testing of evidence from a 1994 homicide scene in Green Forest has been moving forward since a June 3 court order, said Karen Thompson, a lawyer with a New York-based nonprofit called the Innocence Project.

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Carroll County Prosecutor Tony Rogers said he decided not to appeal a circuit judge's ruling allowing the DNA testing because the chances of winning on appeal weren't great.

Carroll County Circuit Judge Gerald Kent Crow granted permission for DNA testing June 3.

Two years after the homicide of Stephen Goff, his wife, Belynda Goff, was convicted of bludgeoning him to death. She was sentenced to life in prison.

Stephen Goff was killed in the entryway of the couple's apartment. At the time, only Belynda Goff and the couple's 3-year-old son were home. Police found no signs of forced entry and no murder weapon, but trace amounts of Stephen Goff's blood were discovered on the underside of a shower drain-plate.

Belynda Goff refused a plea bargain and has always maintained her innocence, even after her appeals were denied.

Rogers said he considered appealing Crow's decision, but then he talked to lawyers at the Arkansas attorney general's office.

"They did not feel that are chances were that great on appeal," Rogers said. "So we decided to let the testing go ahead and everybody will get due process and we'll see what the results are."

Rogers said he doesn't believe the testing will exclude Belynda Goff as a suspect.

"We don't know what it will show," said Rogers. "Even if it shows he has someone else's DNA on his clothing or his body, we don't know how that would get her another trial at this point."

In December 2013, Thompson filed a request on Belynda Goff's behalf to conduct DNA tests on evidence found on and near Stephen Goff's body. If tests find a DNA profile that doesn't match Belynda or Stephen Goff, it would undermine Belynda Goff 's conviction, Thompson said.

Thompson filed the petition under 2001's Act 1780, which grants convicted defendants the right to request forensic DNA testing on evidence not previously tested after the direct appeals process has been exhausted.

Rogers initially appealed Goff's request, arguing that Arkansas criminal procedure makes no allowance for post-conviction claims of innocence.

At a March 31 hearing, Crow delayed the decision, giving both parties 21 days to file supplementary arguments.

On June 3, Crow issued an order granting permission for DNA testing at a private laboratory in Texas at the Innocence Project's expense.

Thompson said Wednesday the tests are still being conducted. She wouldn't give a date for expected completion.

NW News on 07/25/2014

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