Chatham County District Attorney's office reviewing cases by former SPD detective
On Jan. 2, a defense attorney for Tazjuan Kalib Clark-Arrington filed a motion to suppress statements made by Clark-Arrington on Jan. 24, 2020, to former Savannah Police Department (SPD) detective Ashley Wood in connection with a murder investigation.
Clark-Arrington's case adds to the list of current and pending court cases coming under increased scrutiny because of the involvement of Wood, who was fired by the SPD last year for falsifying information in multiple search warrant applications tied to the 2021 murder of Charles Vinson.
Late last year Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones confirmed her office is reviewing at least five felony cases that former detective Wood investigated during her tenure with SPD, which began in 2017. After the Savannah Morning News sent Jones a list of other cases Wood had investigated, the DA verified she had sent the full list of cases to Chatham County Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Brian DeBlasiis to consider the "prosecutorial value and strength of evidence" that aren't detailed in court transcripts. Four of these cases are detailed below:
Murder of Reginald Black
On Aug. 10, 2021, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Aljakwan Ward for one count of malice murder, one count of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer. The charges stemmed from the fatal stabbing of Reginald Black, 51.
Ward sent a letter from his Chatham County jail cell on Nov. 23, 2021, to Chatham County Public Defender James Byrne, declaring his innocence.
"The homicide took place outside of my Residence," Ward wrote. "Individual (Reginald Black) died, stabbed by another [party]. I was inside of my home at the time of the Incident nappin & heard individuals screaming outside [of the] residence. I had individuals who lived with me there. When I came out, they all had left the scene there. I saw (Reginald Black), on the ground. I left the scene."
In another letter, Ward wrote that the SPD Homicide unit searched his residence and found different subjects pertaining to the case. The SPD homicide detectives also found, Ward alleged, a firearm inside his home, which wasn't his. Ward demanded the court provide him discovery in the case.
On Dec. 6, 2021, then-Chatham County Superior Court Judge Louisa Abbot struck the pro se motions, citing Clifton v. State, which dictates that criminal defendants can't represent themselves while also being represented by an attorney.
But on Sept. 21, 2023, Chatham County ADAs chose not to prosecute the charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault against Ward and reached a negotiated guilty plea for possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer. Ward was sentenced to 10 years, with five years' incarceration and five years probated.
In the nolle prosequi motion, ADA Whitney Gregory wrote that "the lead detective in this case has been terminated by the Savannah Police Department for reasons that impair her credibility. The State has since become aware of material evidence concerning another suspect in the homicide. As a result, the State has determined that it cannot meet its burden as to those counts and respectfully requests this motion to be granted in the interest of justice."
Asked about the other suspect in the murder, DeBlasiis said, "The investigation is ongoing. No indictment at this time."
Murder of Devonte Henneghan
On Aug. 7, 2019, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Derek Gallop for felony murder and five counts of aggravated assault for a June 11, 2019, shooting on Damascus Street that left four men suffering from gunshot wounds, and one man, Devonte Henneghan, 27, dead.
On May 2, 2022, prosecutors chose not to prosecute the charges of felony murder and five counts of aggravated assault and reached a negotiated guilty plea for voluntary manslaughter with Gallop. Gallop was sentenced to 20 years, three to serve followed by 17 years probated.
In the case, search warrants were obtained through a photo lineup conducted by Wood. Gallop, however, alleged that Wood coerced the witness to pick Gallop from the lineup. In the first photo lineup, conducted by SPD Officer Raymond Mercer on June 13, 2019, a witness did not identify Gallop as the shooter. In a second photo lineup, conducted by Wood on June 27, 2019, the witness picked Gallop.
On Aug. 12, 2020, Gallop's defense attorney, James Byrne, filed a motion to suppress the identification evidence. In the motion, Byrne argued that the identification procedures were "unreliable," resulting in "misidentification."
On July 23, 2021, Gallop, who started representing himself after having disagreements with Byrne, filed a similar motion to suppress the identification evidence.
During an Aug. 11, 2022, motion hearing, under cross-examination by then-Chatham ADA Jenny Parker, Wood testified that the witness picked out Gallop during the photo lineup. Wood testified that she did not suggest that the witness pick Gallop out of the photo lineup.
“I'm really afraid to be in this county jail,” Gallop said at the motion hearing. “I feel railroaded because I'm framed for a crime I didn't commit. I'm trying to prove to y'all that I did not commit this crime.” He alleged that Wood lied during her testimony.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley admitted the photographic lineup identification into evidence, citing the “rules of evidence.”
On March 28, 2022, Gallop's attorney, Byrne again, filed a motion to suppress identification statements. In the motion, Byrne alleged that, on June 12, 2019, Wood and another SPD homicide detective handcuffed Gallop to the wall. Byrne alleged that Wood told Gallop he was not under arrest, but had to read him his Miranda rights "just so they could talk."
In the negotiated plea hearing on May 2, 2022, then-Chatham Assistant District Attorney Abigail Long determined that with little more than eyewitness identification as evidence, the majority of counts against Gallop would not hold up in court.
Gallop filed a federal lawsuit against Wood on March 26, 2021. In the lawsuit, Gallop alleged that Wood illegally obtained the search warrants, again citing the identification evidence. The federal suit was also filed against then-Chatham District Attorney Meg Heap, the foreperson of his grand jury indictment, and Recorder's Court Judge Harris Odell and then-Recorder's Court Judge Willie Young, who Gallop alleged signed off on Wood's warrants.
"I am being held without any physical evidence...I am mentally distraught, sad and mad because years of my life have been stolen and I can't be around my family and friends,” Gallop wrote in the federal suit.
In an order and report and recommendations filed on Feb. 3, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Ray recommended the suit be dismissed, saying that judges, prosecutors, and grand jurors named as defendants are generally immune from lawsuits. While Gallop objected to the report, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker ultimately dismissed the suit on March 31, 2022.
Contradictory testimony in aggravated assault case
On Oct. 10, 2018, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Eric Albright for one count of aggravated assault-family violence and one count of false imprisonment. In the indictment, prosecutors charged that on July 25, 2018, Albright choked a woman and unlawfully imprisoned her. As a result of the offense, Albright's probation was revoked from a 2012 case in which Albright was charged with false imprisonment.
According to court records, Albright was sentenced on Aug. 14, 2015, to 20 years ― five years to be served in confinement, and 15 years probated.
Albright has repeatedly claimed his innocence, including during a phone interview with Savannah Morning News from the Augusta Correctional Facility, where he is serving his sentence.
According to a Savannah Police report, a Savannah Police officer named Robert Ross responded to a disorderly call that stated a woman was being held hostage by her boyfriend, Albright, in his blue Mercedes Benz. The woman claimed Albright had choked her.
However, Ross wrote in the report that the woman “did not have any marks in reference to being choked and [the woman] also refused EMS."
Wood was one of the investigators on the complaint.
During a preliminary hearing on Sept. 4, 2018, Wood testified that the woman did experience injuries, including “red marks to her neck” and her “eyes were extremely red and glassy.” She said she believed pictures were taken of the woman's injuries.
But during a probation revocation hearing on Feb. 1, 2019, Wood said that she did not see any marks on the woman's neck. Wood testified that the woman told her that Albright "became very upset because he thought that she was hiding a piece of crack from him," and choked "the life out of her." She also testified that no pictures were taken of the woman’s injuries.
On Nov. 8, 2019, Albright filed a federal lawsuit against Wood, the then-Chatham County Assistant District Attorney prosecuting the case, Garrett Emmons, and Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley, who oversaw the case. In the suit, Albright alleged that Wood committed perjury against him by testifying that she saw red marks around the victim's neck.
On Oct. 12, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore dismissed the suit against Emmons and Walmsley, citing “judicial and prosecutorial immunities.” Moore dismissed the suit against Wood because Albright “failed to allege specific facts showing Detective Wood was involved in Plaintiff’s arrest or that Plaintiff was arrested without probable cause.”
On Dec. 22, 2020, Albright’s sister, Justina Young, sent a detailed letter to the Chatham Public Defender’s Office. The letter contained allegations of Wood’s misconduct in Albright’s case, among other claims that his defense attorney wasn’t providing Albright adequate counsel.
“The detective in the case is on record contradicting her statements and as a result should not be deemed a credible witness,” Young, who signed the letter as a “concerned sister,” wrote. “His indictment was based on her contradicting testimony.”
Murder of Tyrese Carter
On April 13, 2021, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Dorian Heyward for one count of malice murder, one count of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, in connection to the Jan. 2, 2019, shooting death of then-17-year-old Tyrese Carter, a popular local rapper also known as "Huncho Reese," at Crayola Cafe, 2501 Bull Street.
On March 23, 2022, Chatham ADA DeBlasiis chose to not prosecute the felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Heyward was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a voluntary manslaughter charge. That sentence ran concurrently to another case in which Heyward was indicted for one count of kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, in connection to an incident that occurred on Jan. 18, 2019.
"Although probable cause existed to arrest and charge the Defendant with the above noted counts, after reviewing the evidence and pursuant to plea negotiations the State respectfully requests to Nolle Prosequi said counts," DeBlasiis wrote in the motion to nolle prosequi filed on March 23, 2022.
Wood isn't listed as the witness in the indictment, but DeBlasiis confirmed that Wood took over the case from another detective who had left SPD, though she "did very little" on the case, he said.
"I had the Dorian Heyward case reviewed prior to any of the stuff that happened with Ashley Wood, just as a matter of getting ready for trial. Sometimes, what we'll do is assign an investigator to review the case and help the ADA prepare for trial, and that's what I did with that one," said DeBlasiis. "That case, I believe, there were reliability issues with two witnesses that led to the reduction."
"We continue to review all of these cases, in connection with everything to do with Ashley Wood, but that one is not a case that has raised any concerns by our office," said DeBlasiis.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham County District Attorney to review cases by former SPD detective
