Failed Mainly Because I have No money for Legal Representation
I filed for DNA testing in 1997 with the understanding that my brother would pay all the costs. The tests were to be performed on the sides of the materials collected from the victim and placed in a freezer of the Pennsylvania State Police Evidence Room to determine whether my DNA was present in the evidence.
Judge DiSantis of Erie County, PA, blew a fuse and refused to release the evidence on 1/8/97. Erie County, PA 2562 of 1976. I appealed and was denied access to the evidence on by all levels of courts. 10/28/97, Superior Court of PA: 4/1/98 Supreme Court of Pa; 4/23/01, Susan Paradise Baxter Magistrate Judge, U. S. District Court in Erie denied me @ Payne v. Sabina 98-189.
Then Pennsylvania and the U.S. Government passed a much-ballyhooed retroactive DNA testing law, but written in such a manner that virtually on one could get DNA tests done.
Being an eternal optimist, I once again filed for DNA testing and my brother again offered to pay for this testing.
Again, Judge DiSantis of Erie loudly objected and I was again denied access to the evidence. See 4/11/03 & 4/29/03, by Judge DiSantis, Commonwealth v. Payne 2562, 1976—1/18/03, The Superior Court of Pennsylvania clearly states on page two of its opinion on this matter. “During that hearing, evidence was introduced indicating that appellant had sexually assaulted his victim prior to killing her. “ See superior Court of Pa. WDA 762, 2003’ by refusing to review the case, the PA Supreme Court upheld the decision, see 626 WAL 2003; United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit refused to grant permission to file a second Habeas Corpus on 6/17/04. see C.A. No. 04-2551 and a SUR Petition for a rehearing en banc at the same court was denied on 7/24/04. See No. 04-2551. I filed for an original Habeas Corpus in the United States Supreme Court, which was refused on 10/18/04. See No. 04-6456. These appeals were all without the benefit of legal representation. I then filed a violation of my civil rights in what is called a S1983 Action , stating that my life in prison was unusually harsh, ala Sandin v. Connors, because I was being treated as a sex criminal, which I am NOT. Without DNA tests being done on the evidence used against me, the sex criminal status precluded me from certain prison programs and also prevented me from filing for a commutation unless I admitted that I was a sex criminal, which I am NOT. My brother is still willing to pay for the tests.
Ultimately, Susan Paradise Baxter, Magistrate Judge in The Federal Court in Erie denied me under what she called the Rooker-Feldman doctrine on April 19.2005, see Payne v. Foulk, No. 04-199 Johnstown, which had been filed in my federal district of Johnstown but sent to Erie. She also denied me in-forma pauperis which is a poor man’s status. After thirty years in prison, I certainly qualify for that status. On the advice of an inmate law clerk at this prison who told me I would have to pay an additional $250.00 to appeal this thing to the Third Circuit and since my dealings with that circuit had been so unfavorable in the past, I simply appealed to the District Judge in Pittsburgh and Judge Cohill upheld the Magistrate Judge. I then wrote a letter to that federal court informing them that due to lack of funds, I could pursue the issue no farther.
