'Outrageous misconduct': Hash sues Culpeper prosecutor, sheriff





The slaying investigation was cold until a new sheriff, Lee Hart, was elected in 1999 and made the Scroggins case a priority. (Hart was an investigator on another notorious wrongful conviction case, that of Earl Washington, who came within nine days of execution in 1985.) Hart assigned Jenkins, later elected sheriff in 2011, and Mack to investigate– even though Jenkins had never investigated a homicide and Mack had never investigated any major crime, according to the complaint.

Mack referred the Hook to Sheriff Jenkins, who had not responded to multiple requests for comment at press time.

Hash was 15 when the murder occurred and 19 years old when he was convicted  and sentenced to life in prison without parole, "despite the total absence of credible evidence against him," says the lawsuit.


Investigators shipped Hash from Culpeper Jail to Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail to bunk with a snitch– an unprecedented transfer– and then lied about their reasons for doing so, said the judge.


Close resigned from his office March 12 and did not return a phone call from the Hook.


Police and prosecutors are sued "with some regularity, but not frequently," says Hook legal expert David Heilberg. "One reason it's difficult to sue is that they have sovereign immunity."


Hash is represented by Hunton & Williams in Richmond, which put in 2,000 hours of free work to get his conviction vacated. Says Heilberg, "Hunton & Williams is heavy artillery for a civil rights case like this."





After reading John Grisham's The Innocent Man, Harding says he became involved several years ago with the Innocence Project, an organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted, which also took Hash's case.


He also came across a book by UVA law professor Brandon Garrett, an expert in wrongful convictions, called Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong, which examined the first 250 exonerations that came from DNA testing.




Michael Hash would also like to see prosecution of those law enforcers named in his suit. "When there's evidence they've committed a crime, they should be held to the same standard as everyone else– if not a higher standard because of the position they hold," he says.










This story, and any followup, is about the last we will ever hear of this case. Everybody will settle out of court and insist on a non-dislosure agreement sealing the documents from public view. These documents will admit no wrongdoing and will state that no party can release the terms of the settlements.

If I was Hash, I wouldn't settle for a penny less than $250,000 for each year he spent in prison. This would of course amount to $3 million.

Instead of a lawsuit and monetary damages, It's too bad the law doesn't allow for those responsible to report to jail and serve 12 years themselves. Or give Hash 30 minutes with each of them in a very dark alley one night.

Sloppy police work, lies and fabrications have sent more than one innocent person to jail.

*typo -- non-disclosure agreement

Preach on 'bag

Meanwhile, Paul Carter must be dancing a storm. Hope he is clean as a whistle now or he will be squealing on anyone he knows. Hope his friends are clean as a whistle as well or he no telling what he will do...

There are two sides to every story, funny only one is printed. the police may have handled this case all wrong that does not make this man innocent. We learned that with OJ Simpson. So now everyone involed looks like liers because of how the police went about things. Mean while this poor lady's killer could be getting a whole lot of money after killing her. Then who will be dancing a storm!


We are too hasty to believe every evil report. Many an innocent person has been injured by a tale that was without foundation. It is a serious matter to do an injustice to a fellow man by a report that we spread. The first thing, the least thing that one can do before he passes on a story that has come to him, is to stop long enough to ask if it is true. One of the ten fundamental laws of character is, " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor "

Prosecutorial misconduct does not mean that Hash and his co-conspirators did not kill Thelma. I believe unimpeached witness, Alesia Shelton, Hash's cousin, who overheard Hash and his co-conspirators planning to kill Thelma for drug money. Hash admitted to his cousin that he and his cohorts killed the victim. Shelton also saw Hash's blue car at victim's home. Who cares about snitches and their alleged non-reliability when Alesia Shelton's testmony alone suffices to convict him?

things about this case to remember.

Hashs buddy signed up for about 10 years in jail and testified against him. If you were inocent wouldnt you take it to trial.

Many other state court judges reviewed this case before Judge Turk did and denied his appeal. Judge Turk is a retired judge who is well into to his 90s. Would you want a 90 something year old accountant doing the books for your business.

These three guys knew the victim, lived near her and her stolen truck was found at a remote location that they were know to hangout at.

Hash admitted that him and the others had discussed robbing someone on more than one occasion to get money but, claims they never followed through with it.

So before you all jump on the Michael Hash bandwagon go pull the trial transcripts at the courthouse and read them before you invite him over for Thanksgiving .

"There are two sides to every story,"

With some police and prosecutors, there are three or four sides to the story.

Looking at some post here it's obvious that some need to take legal courses in law to understand 'THE LAW' and how it works. Every case is different "OJ". The law is not perfect nor are people. Truth & Facts make a case when fully disclosed to both sides, rarely happens. Unless you know a case from beginning to end and again understand "The Law" you cannot understand the outcome. This case took a dramatic turn when the federal court granted discovery and hidden secrets were revealed.

I find it so incredibly disturbing when "jailhouse snitches" are used against someone in a trial. These guys will say *anything* to get their own sentences reduced whether or not the person they are helping to convict is guilty or not.

How much of our criminal justice system is completely mucked up because of the Federal war on drugs? These are the people most often used as informants/snitches because the public is less disgusted at having their sentences reduced than they would be an actual violent criminal/murderer.

I have no idea if this guy is guilty or innocent, but we have rules and processes that have to be followed or else the assumption has to be that they are innocent. I would rather 10 criminals go free than 1 innocent person be falsely convicted.