The Akron Legal News

New trial denied after killer claims role as informant led to trial troubles

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: August 1, 2014

The 10th District Court of Appeals denied a man’s motion for a new trial after he claimed his work as a confidential informant resulted in false testimony against him.

James Bass filed a motion for a new trial in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

He claimed that he was wrongly convicted of murder for the September 1999 shooting death of a rival gang member and asserted that several of the state’s witnesses perjured themselves when they testified against him.

The facts of the case state that Miles Davis was shot and killed on Sept. 11, 1999 at a Shell gas station on Lockbourne Road.

Dozens of people were around the gas station at the time of the shooting and it was undisputed that Bass was present.

Police found Bass shortly after the shooting. He was lying in nearby bushes with a gunshot wound to his leg.

Upon initial questioning, Bass denied having a gun that night.

Instead he claimed that he heard 10 to 11 gunshots that night, but none that he fired.

He later acknowledged that he did have a gun and claimed that he fired only a single shot into the air before his weapon jammed.

Shortly after the shooting, Bass started working for Columbus police as a confidential informant, giving information about drug trafficking and gang activity.

His information led to many gang members being arrested, including many members of the Deuce-Deuce Bloods with whom he had been affiliated.

Due to fears for Bass’ safety, the prosecutor’s office recorded Bass’ deposition that could be used as evidence if he should become unavailable.

“The tape of Bass unfortunately made it out of the prosecutor’s office, was copied, and was made available for sale in various record stores and other places around Columbus,” Judge Gary Tyack wrote in his case summary.

The availability of the tape led to heightened concerns for Bass’ safety and the state took steps to protect him.

Shortly thereafter, the police received information that Bass was the person who shot and killed Davis.

Bass acknowledged that he was carrying a TEC-9 gun on that night and a specialist determined that the bullet that killed Davis was consistent with a TEC-9.

Ballistics testing could not establish that Bass’ gun was the murder weapon, however.

Bass was indicted in November 2001 on a charge of murder for his role in Davis’ death.

A jury found him guilty and the trial court sentenced him to 18 years to life in prison. The 10th District affirmed his conviction at that time.

Several years later, Bass attempted to pursue a motion for a new trial. In that motion, he cited several issues with the state’s witnesses.

Specifically, Bass referred to Darrell Farr, who was arrested as part of a gang sweep that netted most of the Deuce-Deuce Bloods.

Both Bass and Martin Yant, a private investigator, asserted that Farr agreed to sign an affidavit recanting his trial testimony and explaining that he was not present at the shooting.

He allegedly claimed that he perjured himself to get a better deal in his own criminal case.

Before he could sign anything, however, Farr was shot and killed.

“Farr likewise would not be available to testify from this point onward, either at a hearing on a motion for new trial or at a new trial,” Judge Tyack stated.

The three-judge appellate panel found that Farr’s trial testimony “strains credibility,” as he denied knowing what a .380 caliber revolver was or knowing that Bass was an informant until he was on the stand.

Farr also told the trial court that he did not know Davis was a member of the Southfield Crips, a rival gang.

Bass also noted that another Deuce-Deuce Blood member gave false testimony against him.

He said one member told police that Bass went to his house after the shooting and asked him to keep his TEC-9 before going to the hospital.

Bass insisted that this testimony had to be false because police found Bass at the crime scene shortly after the shooting.

He claimed one woman agreed to testify for the defense and then later chose to testify against him when her brother was arrested in a gang sweep.

Bass said he acquired two reports as part of a public records request that indicated two confidential informants told police that Davis was shot by a member of his own gang and was not killed by Bass.

He also argued that he was entitled to the security camera footage from the Shell station to verify that testimony.

“The only information about the fate of this tape, is that it was in the possession of an assistant prosecuting attorney on Dec. 5, 2001, but it was never entered into evidence at trial,” Judge Tyack stated.

Regardless, the appellate judges maintained that Bass clearly knew about the tape prior to his trial.

“Knowing exactly what happened when rival gang members begin shooting in a public place is a significant challenge for police and eventually for a trier of fact in a courtroom. What is clear from the record before us is that Bass was a member of the Deuce-Deuce Bloods and Davis was a member of the rival Southfield Crips,” Judge Tyack continued.

The judges found that Bass injured his own credibility when he initially told police he was unarmed at the gas station.

They noted that several witnesses claimed they saw Bass shoot several times, despite his holding that he fired only a single shot.

The judges did agree that few people were willing to “get on a witness stand and commit perjury to help Bass defend himself” after finding that he was a confidential informant and noted that some of them were tempted to “stretch the truth or even perjure themselves” as payback for Bass helping the police.

Still, those problems and Bass’ credibility issues were all explored at trial.

The district judges held that motions for a new trial must be filed within 120 days of the guilty verdict or a defendant must show that he was unavoidable prevented from discovering the evidence within that time frame.

“The trial court judge here did not so find. After a full review of the information before the trial judge, we cannot say the trial court judge abused his discretion in coming to the decision to deny a belated motion for a new trial,” Judge Tyack stated.

With judges Susan Brown and John Connor, Judge Tyack affirmed the lower court’s ruling denying Bass’ motion for a new trial.

The case is cited State v. Bass, 2014-Ohio-2915.

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