Missouri woman waited 5 years in jail for trial, rejects plea deal: ‘I did not do this’
After spending five years in jail, Viola Bowman could have gone home Thursday. Instead, the Missouri woman said she was rejecting a plea deal and taking her chances in front of a jury.
“I did not do this,” Viola Bowman told a Clay County judge as he asked her if she fully understood the offer.
The 58-year-old woman has said she is innocent since she was arrested in 2015 and accused of killing her husband and staging the scene to look like a break-in.
Prosecutors were prepared to downgrade her first-degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for a guilty plea. She would have been sentenced to five years in jail with credit for time served. Now, she is scheduled to go to trial on April 20.
She had that decision formally entered into the court record on Thursday.
“It’s a sad state of our justice system where we are forced to choose between the truth and going home,“ said Bowman’s brother, Andrew Taylor, after the hearing.
Bowman is one of many Missouri defendants forced to spend years in jail, waiting for trial.
She was highlighted in a Star investigation in November, which found the state public defenders system routinely fails poor defendants by providing inadequate representation that falls short of basic constitutional guarantees. The series documented abuse by the courts, wrongful convictions and massive caseloads that stretch defenders beyond their ability to vigorously represent clients.
Bowman rejected the plea, her family said, because she did not want to lie about what happened.
“How could she look at her grandchildren and say, ‘You always have to be truthful and honest,’ when she knows she told the biggest lie ever,” said her cousin, Kathy Taylor.
Her decision to reject a plea and continue seeking the opportunity to prove her innocence in court is “courageous,” said Jeanette Mott Oxford, executive director of Empower Missouri.
Oxford said Bowman’s situation is not uncommon for defendants in need of representation from the public defenders system in the state. She said people often have to evaluate the risks and rewards of pleading guilty or going to trial.
“And sometimes they do plea for something that they’re not guilty of in order to take what they think is their best shot at life,” Oxford said.
Bowman’s decision, she said, is uncommon because of the risk of conviction, further delays and a lengthy appeals process.
“There certainly are many people who have gone to prison, maintained their innocence and quite a few of them have been exonerated later,” she said.
The Clay County Prosecutor’s office and Horton Lance, Bowman’s public defender, declined to comment on the plea offer.
“We’re hoping to actually have a trial in April and prove that she is innocent,” Lance said.
After five years of waiting, Bowman’s family said they are relieved to see her finally moving toward a trial.
But, they’re angry and disappointed that it’s taken so long.
“The State of Missouri should be ashamed of themselves. Absolutely ashamed that they allowed this to happen,” Kathy Taylor said.
Steps toward change
Bowman is one of several plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging failures on the part of the Missouri public defenders system.
A second lawsuit was filed last month arguing that existing wait lists for public defenders constitute an “urgent constitutional crisis.”
As of January more than 4,600 defendants were on a wait list to be assigned an attorney.
In Jefferson City, members of the Missouri legislature have called for more funding for the program.
Most recently, the House budget committee recommended the state allocate about $500,900 to the public defenders office to hire attorneys and $1.1 million for legal assistance.
That number, however, isn’t enough, said Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City. She said she was concerned that not only were there not enough public defenders in the state but that those currently in the office are underpaid.
“We are so far behind but it would be a tremendous strain on the budget to get all caught up at once,” she said.
Burnett said it would be nearly impossible to provide the office with the funds it needs in one year. However, she said, she hopes the legislature can continue to chip away at the issue over the next several years.
In November, Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, said that The General Assembly was looking for solutions to funding the office.
However, he said, it will be difficult to adequately fund the office while balancing it with other priorities, such as education and Medicaid.
Smith did not immediately respond to The Star’s request for comment Friday.
Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, said that he is “cautiously optimistic” the legislature will approve the recommended funding increases and continue working toward more complete funding and reforms.
“I think there is obviously bipartisan recognition that we need to increase funding for public defenders,” Kendrick said. “It’s about our constitutional requirement to provide access to an adequate legal defense.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
