The Lawlessness and Wicked Injustice in the Secret State of West Virginia.
6 November 2022 | Cabell County, West Virginia. Justice News | Washington D.C.
The nightmare of Edward Jesse Dreyfuse (pronounced - Dryfuse) and his wrongful murder conviction began on March 9th, 2012 in Huntington West Virginia. Dreyfuse was the father of three adult children and two adolescent daughters and was employed as a project manager by an Iranian national real estate investor and was putting a labor crew together for an upcoming project.
On March 7th, 2012, Dreyfuse called a skilled laborer named Stan Tomsey and asked if he was interested in a week of work paying $120.00 at each day's end, to which Tomsey readily accepted and asked if he could get a $50.00 advance to catty him. Dreyfuse agreed and explained he needed Two other people to dig post holes and would stop by the following evening and drop off the advance.
On the evening of March 8th, 2012 Jesse arrived at Tomsey's apartment to give him the advance and was then lured into a home in front of Tomsey's apartment under the guise of meeting and talking to a prospective worker. Tomsey led the way, pecking on the front door, announcing himself, and told Dreyfuse to come on in, Jesse followed and the door was shut behind him, he was then attacked, pinned down, stabbed, and robbed by 3 men and thrown out the front door.
Quickly retreating to the Go-Mart station two doors away Dreyfuse began to assess his injuries in the presence of the station clerk, bleeding from stab wounds to the chest and his left side. The clerk asked if Jesse wanted him to call the police and an ambulance. Dreyfuse told the attendant there was no need to call the police, they would never retrieve the phone nor the money, and that he didn't think the injuries were life-threatening. Jesse waited at the well-lit station for a while to ensure he would not be pursued by the attackers and then returned home.
Edward Jesse Dreyfuse's not trusting the Huntington Police Department and not making a Police report of his being assaulted and robbed on that spring night changed his and his children's lives forever.
While resting for two days and realizing the injuries were serious but not life-threatening, Jesse was offered to travel to Parkersburg West Virginia to oversee a concrete job, he thought it was easy work and would also give him some time to heal up. He had no medical insurance and couldn't afford any hospital bills so self-care was the only option.
As soon as Jesse arrived in Parkersburg to subcontract a concrete crew and put a few dollars in his pocket, on April 20 2012 Jesse was arrested at a Park n' Ride on-ramp and charged with malicious wounding from Huntington. Jesse was surprised by his being arrested and explained that he was attacked and robbed on Huntington's West end and that he had never assaulted anyone.
Dreyfuse was transported back to Huntington from Parkersburg and arraigned for malicious wounding, burglary, and two counts of assault during a felony.
On May 2nd, 2012 Jess was taken before a magistrate and charged with 1st Degree Murder, The alleged victim had died. Jesse was shocked and bewildered. How was this happening when he never had an interaction where he assaulted anyone?
On June 19th, 2012 Cabell County prosecutor Chris Chiles and Huntington Detective Ryan Bentley presented and provided the testimonial evidence of Edward Jesse Dreyfuse obtaining a black aluminum Ball Bat, and repeatedly beating Mr. Otis Clay JR. around the face and head, causing multiple facial fractures, a major skull fracture, and exposed brain injury resulting in Mr. Clay slipping into a coma and remaining in that state until he died of those injuries. Edward Jesse Dreyfuse was indicted for Murder.
What was unknown to anyone other than Prosecutor Chris Chiles and Detective Ryan Bentley at that time was they had received all of Mr. Clay's medical records and the State Medical Examiner's Autopsy report on May 2nd, some 47 days before their presentment to the Cabell County Grand Jury and all of those records showed that No One had ever suffered or sustained any multiple facial fractures, nor any major skull fracture or any other types of exposed brain injuries. Nor did anyone die from the Non-Existing Injuries as was deliberately presented.
Jesse Dreyfuse was given a Court appointed Attorney John Laishley as Defense Counsel who informed Jesse that he had reviewed the autopsy report and that the injuries alleged never existed and no one died from the nonexistent injuries.
During a pretrial hearing, Dreyfuse raised concerns over why there was no crime scene investigation performed. The police never secured the residence, and there were no photos taken, no reports filed, and no diagrams of the residence. Prosecutor Chiles explained that the reason for there being no crime scene investigation was because when the crime scene investigators arrived, the residence had already been cleaned up and the residence was locked, and apparently, the first responding officers allowed the crime scene to be cleaned up.
Judge Paul T. Farrell was quite disturbed by Dreyfuse's bringing this to the Court's attention and placing it in the record and decided to conduct his own independent crime scene investigation nearly 18 months after the alleged murder had occurred.
Incredibly Judge Farrell took his Bailiff Deputy Daryl Ballard in uniform with his sidearm and knocked on potential witnesses' doors, entered their homes without a warrant, and then interrogated them as to what testimony they intended to provide at Dreyfuse's trial and also went through the home where the alleged murder was said to have occurred. Judge Paul T. Farrell conducted his own independent crime scene investigation acting as an arm of the prosecution and not as a Judge. After all that had occurred, Cabell County was doing as it saw fit and Jesse was now up against the Judge who was also acting as the prosecutor.
Dreyfuse's trial began with his Defense Lawyer sitting at the prosecution's table and it ended the same way. Prosecutor Chris Chiles again committed the criminalized prosecutorial misconduct of suborning the perjured testimony of James Marcum during the trial when he knowingly presented the fabricated testimonial evidence of Marcum that he watched Dreyfuse repeatedly beat Mr. Clay around the face and head with a bat and that after paramedics transported Mr. Clay to the hospital he cleaned up Mr. Clays brain matter and skull fragments. Attorney Laishley refused to object to the fabricated testimonial evidence and the jurors broke out in tears sobbing uncontrollably. Judge Farrell had to stop the questioning so the jurors could regain their composure. That false testimony sealed Edward Jesse Dreyfuse's fate and certainly ensured his being convicted.
Dreyfuse was convicted of 1st Degree Murder by the criminalized Police and Prosecutorial misconduct committed by Chris Chiles and Detective Ryan Bentley. Jesse was sentenced to Life without parole plus fifteen years.
The Huntington Herald Dispatch titled Dreyfuse as a "Defeatist" in the front page headline released of his being convicted, They couldn't have been any more wrong about Edward Jesse Dreyfuse. They reported a lie and to this day refuse to own up and correct their own mistake.
Over the following 10 years, Jesse's nightmare of injustice was only made lighter by the grace of God, and His gift to Jesse, of helping other people. Jesse learned the language and proceedings of law to litigate for his freedom and also help others along his journey.
Jesse Dreyfuse never filed a Direct Appeal because Attorney Laishley never made a single objection to the prosecutorial misconduct of Chris Chiles deliberately presenting false fabricated evidence or perjured testimony or to any other issues, In West Virginia, it is called the "Raise or Waive Rule,", If there is no objection raised to a trial error the matter is waived and not allowed to be raised for appellate review.
Dreyfuse knew he would have to win in having his conviction vacated in Habeas Corpus proceedings, and he needed his entire case file, those medical records, and that autopsy report to prove the falsities presented to secure his wrongful murder conviction.
Jesse spent nearly six years litigating in the West Virginia Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court and finally prevailed in Federal Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert's providing him the medical records and autopsy report that assistant Attorney General Mary Claire Winterholler had argued Dreyfuse had no legal right to be provided because the records were protected and because Jess could not prove he was a party in any actions where Mr. Clay's cause of death was a material issue.
The tables turned in 2019 when Jesse finally received the State Medical Examiner's autopsy report and Mr. Clay's medical records.
Jess filed his Habeas Corpus and a motion to disqualify the entire seated bench of Cabell County Circuit Court Judges and the Cabell County Prosecutor's office from his case and prevailed. Imagine the corruption - an entire county bench gets disqualified.
Dreyfuse had accomplished what a national lawyer in West Virginia had never been able to do, Jesse, Self Represented and had the entire Cabell County Courthouse and it's Judicial system disqualified from his wrongful murder conviction proceedings and not a single story was ever released.
Jesse then filed an application to present complaints to the Grand Jury against prosecutor Chris Chiles and Huntington Detective Ryan Bentley for their suborning and providing false and fabricated evidence and perjured testimony to the grand jury to improperly procure the murder indictment. Dreyfuse realized that before a prosecutor would knowingly present perjured testimony the prosecutor had to "Suborn '' the perjured testimony, and that is a felony offense in any State.
Cabell County Judge Alfred Ferguson was not too happy with that and denied Jesse's application. Dreyfuse immediately filed a handwritten Appellate Brief in the West Virginia Supreme Court and once again prevailed as a Self Represented person and set a legal precedent in West Virginia in any person's being afforded the right to present a complaint before a Grand Jury against any law enforcement personnel or prosecuting attorney who deliberately procures, suborns and provides false fabricated evidence and perjured testimony in any felony criminal proceedings including Grand Jury and criminal trial proceedings.
Jesse's case was specially assigned to Judge Jay M. Hoke from Hamlin, Lincoln County West Virginia by the West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice and after the disqualification of several special prosecutors, Lincoln County's Prosecutor Jackie Stevens was appointed to the wrongful murder conviction proceedings. Some serious delays occurred in finding a Lawyer in West Virginia who was willing to accept an appointment in assisting Dreyfuse.
You see, throughout the 8-plus years of self-representation in litigating the wrongful murder conviction, Edward Jesse Dreyfuse stumbled onto some shocking fraudulent billing practices by Charleston Public Defender Panel Lawyer William Lester while assisting another inmate in challenging his conviction when Dreyfuse reviewed the Public Defenders billings for the hourly work product he claimed to have performed. Dreyfuse began digging and discovered more than $500,000.00 in fraudulent billings submitted by Attorney William Lester and that the billings were approved for payments by the same Kanawha County Circuit Court Judges who appointed Lester to represent the indigent clients.
Attorney William Lester was ultimately extradited back to West Virginia after absconding to Honduras and was convicted for his obtaining money under false pretenses by the plea agreement and every West Virginia Public Defender Panel Attorney was aware of Edward Jesse Dreyfuse's being the one who exposed the fraudulent billing scheme.
Special assigned Judge Jay M. Hoke was aware of Dreyfuse's being responsible for exposing the fraudulent billing practices and made it clear during a hearing that it would be hard to find a Lawyer willing to represent Dreyfuse. Jesse asked for the appointment of 'Standby' Counsel and Judge Hoke readily agreed that Jesse was more than capable of representing the case and made that comment to Court spectators and Charleston media Channel 8 News as well.
With his Habeas Corpus proceedings pending before Judge Hoke's Court Dreyfuse filed a criminal proceeding Motion to Rescind the improperly procured indictment and a Motion to Vacate the wrongful murder conviction and was given several hearings with compulsory process over 2022, where Jesse made his case before the Court of Prosecutor Chris Chiles and Detective Ryan Bentley's deliberately presenting the false fabricated evidence and perjured testimony before the Grand Jury to secure the invalid indictment on June 19th, 2012.
Jesse presented the medical records and State Medical Examiner's autopsy report that was received by Chris Chiles and Bentley on May 2nd, 2012 which clearly proved that Chiles and Bentley knew Mr. Clay had never suffered any multiple facial fractures, nor a major skull fracture or any type of exposed brain injury and that he did not die from those non-existing injuries, The special prosecutor was baffled and could not dispute the injuries ever existed.
Special Prosecutor Stevens attempted to recover from Jesse's presentment in support of the indictment being dismissed and argued that he did not agree with an indictment being dismissed after a conviction and that Dreyfuse was found guilty after the jury heard the testimony of Dreyfuse's repeatedly beating a man about the face and head with a Ball bat.
Dreyfuse rebutted 53 separate rulings issued by the West Virginia Supreme Court that had dismissed improperly procured indictments after convictions and the cases were vacated. Dreyfuse included that Prosecutor Stevens could show no law to support his not agreeing with an improperly procured indictment being dismissed. Again there was no dispute in opposition and the criminal proceedings were rested and matured for Judge Hoke to decide.
Jesse was appointed former Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Mark S. Plants as 'Standby Counsel' and he has done just that, stood by and never once argued for Jesse's release from imprisonment or for the wrongful murder conviction to be vacated.
In fact, attorney Plants caused more than 9 months of unnecessary delays in Dreyfuse's wrongful murder conviction proceedings being resolved by his requested continuances that were not reasonable and even asked Jesse what a few more months in a prison cell mattered after spending the last ten years in prison!
Dreyfuse was shocked by attorney Plants making such a comment. What kind of lawyer argues to keep his client in prison?
Edward Jesse Dreyfuse filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the West Virginia Supreme Court seeking to compel the special assigned Judge Jay M. Hoke to issue an ORDER in the criminal proceeding motions to rescind the improperly procured indictment and to vacate the wrongful murder conviction as the matters are matured for his issuing an ORDER with the required findings of facts and conclusions of law.
More than a decade has passed since Edward Jesse Dreyfuse was wrongfully convicted of murder. His two adolescent Daughters have grown into intelligent beautiful young women and Jesse has never once considered giving up the fight for freedom and exposing the scandal, corruption, and criminalized misconduct that has permeated Huntington West Virginia's Cabell County Courthouse.
Incredibly, this true story of the wrongful conviction of Jesse Dreyfuse and its unconstitutional and unlawful procedural history has been silenced, censored, and concealed by West Virginia's media sources, and the national U.S. media at large looks the other way, while an actual innocent man’s life is being completely destroyed at the hands of his own people and his state.
Until now - with the graces of God Almighty.
Published on behalf of Jesse Dreyfuse. Unshackled | Justice For The Innocent.
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