The Alaska Innocence Project lead counsel Bill Oberly and attorney Colleen Libbey filed silmoutaneous motions in Fairbanks Superior Court accusing the State of Alaska of accomplishing little more than “wasting paper” in their controversial response to the Fairbanks Four case. In a filing on behalf of Eugene Vent, Libbey further accuses the State of Alaska of violating Vent’s constitutional right to a fair trial and prosecutorial misconduct by withholding a murder confession in this case.
The filings, which come less than sixty days after the State’s response, trump the State response itself in simple length and drastically outshine the State in the merit of their respective arguments. The contrast between the aimless and sometimes bizarre content of the State of Alaska’s Motion to Dismiss and the succinct and well substantiated arguments in the Alaska Innocence and Libby filings are stark.
The Innocence Project filing undermines the credibility of every piece of information alluded to in the State filing and casts serious doubt on the intention and merit of their work. Libbey’s motion details the prosecutorial misconduct surrounding the decision to hide a murder confession in the case during ongoing legal actions, and at one point in reference to the State’s most vigorous assertions says, “This argument does not make sense.”
It is hard to imagine a court in the free world that would not grant the Fairbanks Four a new trial in light of the ever-mounting pile of evidence that William Holmes, Jason Wallace, Marquez Pennington, Rashan Brown, and Shelmar Johnson killed John Hartman, or the overwhelming and ever-growing evidence that the State of Alaska has engaged in misconduct and corruption at nearly every level of this case, from the first moments of the investigation up to today. Yet, it is indeed this terrifyingly corrupt and unapologetically deceptive system that the Fairbanks Four must leave their fate to.
There are people in this case who have information and are currently, right now, refusing to come forward. Those who fail to come forward take the side of the oppressors. They assist the state in keeping innocent men in jail. If you know someone who has information in this case, ask them to come forward. If they will not, turn them in. The time for inaction is long over.
The Fairbanks Four 
As terrible as the killing of John Hartman was it almost feels like the worse crime committed here is by those who put and keep those 4 innocent men in jail. We will always face justice for what we have done one way or another, and those responsible for their sufferings will also.
Jason wallace kick my face till I was unrecognizable. A year or two before this murder.
I always knew these guys were innocent. Jason Wallace kicked my face till it was unrecognizable. A year or two before this catastrophe happened. I went to school with the four. I couldn’t see anyone of them capable of such a gross display of animalistic savagery! But the confession of jason to friends I believe without a doubt.
Jeremy,
I’m sorry you had to go through such a traumatic event. Thank you for stepping forward and saying this. It takes courage to do so and I appreciate that. Very sad that they have not come forward on their own to tell the truth and finally give these men back to freedom they have deserved.
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